Fertiliser prices have slipped to an 18 month low, with CAN now back under the £500/t barrier.

Quotes at the start of this week for lorry loads of CAN are between £470/t and £490/t. CAN, plus sulphur is around £15/t above these prices.

Last week, quotes for CAN hovered around £535/t before discounts on larger quantities purchased and payment on delivery were applied.

Urea

Urea is also trending downwards, with quotes this week around £580/t for larger consignments, well below the £750/t to £800/t back in January.

At the outlined prices, urea continues to provide better value for money, costing 126p/kg of nitrogen compared to 178p/kg of nitrogen supplied by CAN.

Drops in the price of compound fertilisers are less pronounced, with most generally trading around £80 to £100/t above CAN prices.

Price around

Fertiliser prices are expected to continue trending downwards, and farmers are advised to price around as there is plenty of variation this week.

Some merchants that forward bought nitrogen in early March are slower to pass-on the latest price cuts, and where farmers require longer term credit facilities, lower prices are less readily available.

Grain

Grain markets have also eased this week, with imported feed barley costing £240/t before haulage and handling charges apply.

On spot markets, imported feed wheat is priced around £257/t, down £10/t on last week on the back of softer global demand and with increasing supplies of Russian grain adding to price pressure.

Proteins remain the main barrier to lower feed prices, with soya trading on spot markets at around £560/t. Haulage and handling charges have to be factored in on top of this price.