I have recently provided some articles for this newsletter addressing the increasing fertilizer prices that U.S. agricultural communities have been experiencing (1 December 2021 and 8 February 2022).  The situation continues to change following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is making things even more difficult and driving fertilizer prices even higher.
 
Fertilizer prices have more than doubled in the past year for most materials commonly used in production agriculture.  Fertilizer prices have been increasing primarily as a function of higher natural gas prices, high global demand, and low inventories.  In addition, supply chain disruptions have served to further complicate the situation.  In response, the USDA has announced plans for a $250M investment to support innovative American-made fertilizer to give US farmers more choices in the marketplace (USDA Press Release No. 0060.22).  That will be an interesting program to watch.
 
Now, with the war in Ukraine, the resultant sanctions, and global disruptions; the Russian government has restricted fertilizer exports.  This is a major problem since Russia is a major low-cost exporter of every type of crop nutrient, particularly of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).  Russia is the second-largest producer of ammonia, urea, and potash and it is the fifth-largest producer of processed phosphates. Russia provides 23% of the global ammonia for the export market, 14% of urea, 21% for potash, and 10% of the processed phosphates (The Fertilizer Institute; TFI, https://www.tfi.org/).
 
Currently, Belarus and Russia account for about 15% of all world fertilizer. Europe, including Ukraine, are heavily dependent on both countries for fertilizer inputs. Due to Russia’s large fertilizer production and footprint as a global fertilizer supplier, Russian products being removed from the global marketplace will have an impact on supply.
 
Large amounts of natural gas are required in the industrial process of N fixation by the Haber-Bosch process that provides the base for most N fertilizers.  Russia supplies about one-third of Europe's natural gas supply and many of the globally important N fertilizer plants are in Europe.
 
Potassium fertilizers are mined from deposits of potassium chloride (KCl, muriate of potash), potassium sulfate (K2SO4), and potassium nitrate (KNO3).  Canada is by far the largest producer of K fertilizer worldwide.  Russia also has huge deposits of K minerals that are mined for fertilizer production and it ranks second in production and #3 globally in K fertilizer exports (Table 1).  In 2020, the U.S. was just below Spain and produced ~ 350,000 metric tons of K fertilizer (The Fertilizer Institute; TFI, https://www.tfi.org/; Potash Investing News, https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/agriculture-investing/potash-investing/top-potash-countries-by-production/).
 

Nation	Metric Tons of K fertilizer
Canada	14M
Russia	7.6M
Belarus	7.3M
China	5M
Germany	3M
Israel	2M
Jordan	1.5M
Chile	900K
Spain	470K

Table 1.  Top countries in K fertilizer production, 2020.  U.S. Geological Survey

 
The U.S. has a robust fertilizer industry but prices for our products are driven by global supply and demand factors, and it is important to note that more than 90% of all fertilizer is consumed outside of the U.S.  North America imports ~ 20% of its urea N fertilizer (46-0-0) from Russia.  Some nations have a much larger exposure to these global fertilizer problems and Brazil tops the list with the importation of 47% of their K fertilizer supply coming from Russia along with ~ 20% of their urea and 30% of their mono-ammonium phosphate.
 
Russian exports ~ 14% of the global urea supply and China makes up about 20%.  Many experts in the international fertilizer industry are anticipating that China will increase global urea fertilizer exports in 2022 due to the current circumstances but that is not certain at this point.
 
The fertilizer supply and price situation does not seem likely to improve soon.  So, we are going to have to deal with it.  Fortunately, we have good methods for managing our crop nutrient needs and the use of fertilizers in our crop production systems.  This makes the value of soil testing more important and the use of the various tools we have at our disposal to improve fertilizer use efficiency. 
 
Developing a sound fertilization program begins with a good understanding of actual soil conditions. The collection and analyses of a good (representative) set of soil samples and then relating that information to established guidelines are the first steps toward developing a strong soil fertility and plant nutritional management program for any crop. This is important for the overall agronomic, economic, and environmental efficiency of a crop production system.
 
To maximize nutrient management efficiency, it is always important to include and consider the 4R concept of plant nutrient management and application, consisting of:
 1.   The Right fertilizer source at the
 2.   Right rate, at the
 3.   Right time and in the
 4.   Right place
 
The 4R nutrient stewardship approach utilizes the implementation of best management practices (BMPs) that optimize the fertilizer use efficiency by the crop. The primary objective of the 4R approach and BMPs is to match nutrient supply with crop requirements and to minimize nutrient losses from fields.  Each case can vary among farms and fields, dependent on local soil and climatic conditions, crop, management conditions, and other site-specific factors.  Field level management is always important and it will be increasingly critical with high fertilizer prices.
 
References:
The Fertilizer Institute https://www.tfi.org/
 
Potash Investing News https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/agriculture-investing/potash-investing/top-potash-countries-by-production/
 
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2021 https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2021/mcs2021-potash.pdf
 
USDA. 11 March 2020. USDA Announces Plans for $250 Million Investment to Support Innovative American-made Fertilizer to give US Farmers more choices in the Marketplace. Press Release No. 0060.22.  https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/03/11/usda-announces-plans-250-million-investment-support-innovative

This study was conducted at the Yuma Valley Agricultural Center. The soil was a silty clay loam (7-56-37 sand-silt-clay, pH 7.2, O.M. 0.7%). Spinach ‘Meerkat’ was seeded, then sprinkler-irrigated to germinate seed Jan 13, 2025 on beds with 84 in. between bed centers and containing 30 lines of seed per bed.  All irrigation water was supplied by sprinkler irrigation.  Treatments were replicated four times in a randomized complete block design.  Replicate plots consisted of 15 ft lengths of bed separated by 3 ft lengths of nontreated bed.  Treatments were applied with a CO₂ backpack sprayer that delivered 50 gal/acre at 40 psi to flat-fan nozzles.

Downy mildew (caused by Peronospora farinosa f. sp. spinaciae)was first observed in plots on Mar 5 and final reading was taken on March 6 and March 7, 2025. Spray date for each treatments are listed in excel file with the results.

Disease severity was recorded by determining the percentage of infected leaves present within three 1-ft²areas within each of the four replicate plots per treatment.  The number of spinach leaves in a 1-ft²area of bed was approximately 144. The percentage were then changed to 1-10scale, with 1 being 10% infection and 10 being 100% infection.

The data (found in the accompanying Excel file) illustrate the degree of disease reduction obtained by applications of the various tested fungicides. Products that provided most effective control against the disease include Orondis ultra, Zampro, Stargus, Cevya, Eject .Please see table for other treatments with significant disease suppression/control.  No phytotoxicity was observed in any of the treatments in this trial.

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Weeds that are outside of fields can still be harmful to crop production. This does not include ditch banks or fallow fields. Non-crop weed control includes weeds around buildings, roadways, equipment yards, fence lines etc. It is different than fallow ground or ditch banks weed control and includes places where crops are not grown. Weeds in non-crop areas can be a source of weed seeds that blow or are carried into places where crops are grown. They can also be a refuge for insects,  diseases and rodents. The reason that these herbicides are registered for non-crop areas is that they are broad spectrum and persistent. Some are registered for use in fields but at much lower rates than for non-crop areas. For instance, Diuron can be used on alfalfa at 1 to 1.5 qts/ac. but is used for non-crop areas at 12 qts/ac.

Herbicide	Weeds Controlled	Activity	Soil Residual	Comments
Bromacil	Broadleaves and grasses	Preemergence	1 to 2 years	The nuclear option Should be incorporated with water. Keep away from roots of desirable vegetation.
Hexazinone	Broadleaves and grasses	Preemergence and Postemergence	1 to 2 years	Keep away from roots of desirable vegetation. Incorporate with water.
Diuron	Broadleaves and grasses	Preemergence and Postemergence	2 years	Incorporate with water but do not leach into roots of desirable vegetation
Prometon	Broadleaves and grasses	Preemergence and Postemergence	1 to 2 years	Must be incorporated with water
Tebuthiuron	Broadleaves and grass. Good on hardwood trees	Preemergence and postemergence	2 years	Incorporate with water. Contact with even on feeder root of desirable vegetation can be lethal
Imazapyr	Broadleaves and grasses	Preemergence and post emergence	1 year	Primarily a postemergence herbicide but is readily absorbed by rootsif incorporated with water
sulfometuron	Broadleaves and grasses	Preemergence and post emergence	1 year	Must incorporate with water
Aminopyralid	Broadleaves	Preemergence	1 year	broadleaves only. Shorter soil residual for weeds but crops can not be planted for 1-2 years

Area wide Insect Trapping Network   VegIPM Update, Vol. 14, No. 24, Nov 1, 2023            
 
Results of pheromone and sticky trap catches can be viewed here.
 
Corn earworm:            
CEW moth captures have steadily decreased over the past 2 weeks, and areawide about average for late-October.
 
Beet armyworm:         
Trap counts reached their highest levels so far this season, particularly in Tacna, Wellton and Yuma Valley, and about average for late October.
 
Cabbage looper:           
Cabbage looper numbers decreased areawide, and are still below average for this time of the year.
 
Diamondback moth:   
Sporadic DBM activity in low numbers throughout the area, trending well below average for late October.
 
Whitefly:                     
Adult movement increased in the past 2 weeks and above average for late October.
 
Thrips:                           
Thrips adult activity peaked in the last two weeks, and trending below average in October.
 
Aphids:                        
Winged adults continue to be captured for the season, consistent with heavy winds from W-NW. Aphid captures thus far have been well below average. 
 
Leafminers:                  
Adult activity decreased in most areas, and trending about average for late October.