A worker walks at the Yara ammonia plant in Porsgrunn, Norway, in August 2017.

Yara cuts cast doubt on Europe’s fertilizer production

Skyrocketing natural gas prices have nitrogen producers wary

Reuters – Norway’s Yara, one of the world’s largest fertilizer makers, is slashing ammonia production due to soaring gas prices, raising questions about Europe’s ability to produce enough fertilizer for its crops. Ammonia plays a key role in the manufacturing of fertilizer. Without it, crop yields will deteriorate because nutrients removed from soil during harvesting

NFU calls for agriculture to ‘scale back’ nitrogen use, export goals

NFU calls for agriculture to ‘scale back’ nitrogen use, export goals

System transformation, not tweaking, is needed to mitigate climate change, says new report

EMISSIONS System transformation, not tweaking, is needed to mitigate climate change, says new report

Pushing for higher yields and greater exports each year will lead to greater nitrogen greenhouse gas emissions, even if greater efficiency is achieved, says a new report from the National Farmers Union (NFU). “If we do not scale back… if we pretend instead that tweaking our nitrogen-use practices can solve the problem, we may make


Emissions goal realistic — even conservative — with enough funding, experts say

Emissions goal realistic — even conservative — with enough funding, experts say

Quibbling about farmers' fertilizer efficiency clouds the real issue, a Manitoba researcher says

Claims that Canadian farmers can’t meet the government’s emissions reduction goals without wholesale cuts to fertilizer are utterly false, says a Manitoba researcher. “It’s pretty easy for us to meet the target,” said Mario Tenuta, senior industrial research chair in 4R nutrient management. Tenuta is based at the University of Manitoba. “Thirty per cent is

(Alexey Rezvykh/iStock/Getty Images)

Editor’s Take: Simmer down

It’s time for everyone to step back, take a deep breath, and tone down the rhetoric around the issue of fertilizer emissions. Because right now it’s being over-politicized, under-scrutinized and devoid of any rational examination. Here’s what we know so far. The federal government wants to see farmers reduce emissions from fertilizer by 30 per


Comment: Balancing production against pollution

Comment: Balancing production against pollution

POLICY Focus should be on hunt for solutions that are a win for farms and the environment

The federal government has set a national reduction target for emissions coming from the use of nitrogen fertilizer to 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030. It is currently consulting on recommendations for how best to achieve this goal, but not on the goal itself. Many agriculture ministers were hoping this goal was open

For many crops, our farmers’ ability to grow anything will be severely compromised, unless they use more land.

Comment: Farming is losing to urban politics

Not tying fertilizer use to productivity is a dangerous failure of federal policy

Most Canadians have never been on a farm, let alone lived on one, which makes more than 98 per cent of our population agriculturally illiterate. For many Canadians, crop production is an unknown concept. Because of this, it’s relatively easy to use fear to influence public opinion on any food-related issue involving agriculture. Activists know


“Our position is that ESN does reduce nitrous oxide emissions during our short-season, dryland prairie conditions.” – Curtis Rempel.

ESN off the table for climate fund incentives

Canola Council of Canada wants AAFC to revisit the change

The Canola Council of Canada says ESN has been scratched from the list of incentives being offered to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer in the federal government’s On-Farm Climate Change Action Fund (OFCAF). The fund was launched in February by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) to help farmers adopt and implement immediate on-farm beneficial management practices that

Nutrien beats profit estimates, lowers full-year forecast

Reuters – Nutrien beat second-quarter profit estimates, fueled by soaring prices of crop nutrients that more than offset higher natural gas costs and lower sales volumes. However, the world’s largest fertilizer producer lowered its full-year adjusted profit forecast as it expects higher natural gas costs to hurt its nitrogen business. Nutrien is the latest company


“We are reducing production at facilities that require large volumes of natural gas, such as ammonia plants,” Martin Brudermueller, BASF CEO.

BASF readies for another ammonia cut

The company cut ammonia output last September and will now reduce further

Reuters – BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, is cutting ammonia production again due to soaring natural gas prices, it said July 27, with potential value-chain ramifications ranging from farming to fizzy drinks. Germany’s biggest ammonia maker, SKW Piesteritz, and number four, Ineos, also said they could not rule out production cuts as the country grapples with

Nutrien’s head office building in Saskatoon. (Liam O’Connor photo)

Nutrien’s interim CEO named CEO

Seitz sees 'a lot of uncertainty' continuing in market

Reuters — Canada’s Nutrien Ltd., the world’s largest potash fertilizer producer, named Ken Seitz as chief executive on Monday, removing the interim tag. Nutrien in January surprised investors by replacing its CEO for the second time in eight months. It then named Seitz, the head of its potash business, as interim CEO, replacing Mayo Schmidt.