# Fertilizer shopping



## Stegs (Aug 29, 2017)

Just curious if anybody else here is pricing out lawn supplies for the upcoming season

I have been, especially with fertilizer.

Where i normally get my fertilizer, i would just buy it as needed thru the season.

However, i called them 1-25-22 and they told me they had a price increase on 1-12, and expect another around mid march

That being said, i plan on getting all my fert this weekend for the upcoming season. They said material costs are higher, and supply will be down

Costs comparison on what i use. This year vs last year
20-0-9 40% organic, 55% Slow release, 50% sulfated potash. Last year cost was 15.98 for 50lbs. This year 21.00

18-0-28 "winterizer" last year cost was 22 for 50lbs. This year 31 dollars per 50lbs

Im all set on fungicides and herbicides this year. With costs going up, i dont plan on doing any humic, or kelp4less apps.

Going to keep it more basic and use these 2 fert options as it fits my soil tests.

Just curious if anybody else has been pricing out stuff for the upcoming year. You may want to stock up now, its sounds like its going to get expensice


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## Bkeller500 (Jul 2, 2018)

I was just looking at Fertilizer options over the weekend and noticed the same thing. It seems nothing is on sale currently
( hoping to capture some left over close outs) and most every fertilizer is significantly more expensive. Last year I paid $ 23.87 per bag of UREA 46-0-0 at SiteOne, and today it's $54.78...Geeze. Looking at the Big Box stores only Lowes had a sale on some left over Scotts Fall Fertilizer but the bags were broken open and might be difficult to spread if they got any water damage sitting out in the weather. I did see some Ammonium SULFATE at a nearby Rural King Farm store ( 51 pounds for $13.99 ) that I think I will grab all they have and hope they will get more soon. From what I am seeing on the web, I would expect 2022 to have a lot of shock as far as pricing on everything. Lawn fertilizer will have prices increases and shortages!


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## Powhatan (Dec 15, 2017)

Yep, highly recommend to buy early and look for sales or discounts.

I've bought my supplies for the 2022 year within the past couple of months. Some I bought when seller had sale prices or I bought in bulk quantity discount. The majority of supplies I get are from my local SiteOne, current unit prices (for previous items I've purchased) were a few dollars more than last year. They said grass seed prices are still way higher than last year.


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## Bean4Me (May 13, 2020)

I'll be burning through my walmart stockpile from last fall. It should cover me for this season. I'll only need to pick up and supplement SOP depending on my soil tests.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

I went to my Site One about a week ago. They told me to start buying around February or March. That and to expect prices to go up around July. Something about the state sets prices (is that accurate?). I only need Dimension, 25-0-6 (head sales guy recommended) or 18-0-0 and a different fertilizer, maybe some Defendor (if I can split it with anybody). I already got grub control and Hydretrain.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@Powhatan i already noticed that Headway G went up in price on DomyOwn. Thankfully I used TLF discount.


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## Stegs (Aug 29, 2017)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> I went to my Site One about a week ago. They told me to start buying around February or March. That and to expect prices to go up around July. Something about the state sets prices (is that accurate?). I only need Dimension, 25-0-6 (head sales guy recommended) or 18-0-0 and a different fertilizer, maybe some Defendor (if I can split it with anybody). I already got grub control and Hydretrain.


if you have a ewing irrigation near you. Give them a try. 
My local branch has much better pricing than site 1.

Havent used site 1 for years. So expensive


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@Stegs there is a location literally 3 miles down the street from me and I've never heard of it before. I really need to explore the city of Livonia more. Every dollar I save there, I shall think of this day. You're the real MVP.


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## Stegs (Aug 29, 2017)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Stegs there is a location literally 3 miles down the street from me and I've never heard of it before. I really need to explore the city of Livonia more. Every dollar I save there, I shall think of this day. You're the real MVP.


Well keep in mind, Im going to assume that everybody has raised their prices on stuff.
However, my local ewing irrigation branch (last year) had significantly better pricing on seed, fungicides and basic 3 way herbicide

I dont know what this year will bring, but I prefer ewing much more than site one.

they have a 2.5 gallon jug of humic plus w/ carbon. I used it last year and thought it help out alot. They sold it last year for 40 dollars.

Plus, I bought a bunch of seed from them (oh yea, they sell mountain view seeds too)50lbs of tttf was 90 dollars. Everyone else was 150+ for lesser cultivars.

Let me know what you find!


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@Stegs will do.


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## kstall (May 10, 2019)

Holy cow. Just checked the Site One site nearest me......46-0-0 $85 a bag!!!! Just 3 years ago I paid $17. This is absolutely insane. I love my yard but I won't be spending that kind of money all summer to keep it green.


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## Stegs (Aug 29, 2017)

kstall said:


> Holy cow. Just checked the Site One site nearest me......46-0-0 $85 a bag!!!! Just 3 years ago I paid $17. This is absolutely insane. I love my yard but I won't be spending that kind of money all summer to keep it green.


46-0-0 is no where near that much money. Heck you buy urea at any hardware store for alot less

Site 1 has bad pricing from what i found

Another option for you guys, is win pro online

free shipping, great products. Good prices.

https://winproonline.com/


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## 01Bullitt (Aug 31, 2020)

FYI - The Weaver fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem is on fire and may be a total loss. They supply Lowes here in NC with fertilizer and lime products.
https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/winston-salem/fertilizer-plant-fire-continues-to-rage-12-hours-on-neighbors-asked-to-evacuate-due-to-risk-of-explosion/


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## 01Bullitt (Aug 31, 2020)

https://youtu.be/sKDDMFCbqmo


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## Ngilbe36 (Jul 23, 2020)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Stegs there is a location literally 3 miles down the street from me and I've never heard of it before. I really need to explore the city of Livonia more. Every dollar I save there, I shall think of this day. You're the real MVP.


I went to that one, literally the same store you are looking at I assume, and I wasnt impressed. The guy there had some complex and kept telling me there was basically no difference between their cool season seed mix and straight KBG. They also would not tell me what they had in stock over the phone, I had to come in. That was about 8 months ago now though so maybe that guy is gone and they are better. PM me if you have good results.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@Ngilbe36 I will probably venture over there next month. I like the Site One over on Merriman. There's a few real knowledgeable guys there. Commerce Township's location has a guy that other locations recommend, named Troy. I've spoken to him over the phone a time or two.


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

kstall said:


> Holy cow. Just checked the Site One site nearest me......46-0-0 $85 a bag!!!! Just 3 years ago I paid $17. This is absolutely insane. I love my yard but I won't be spending that kind of money all summer to keep it green.


You need to check your local feed store or co op. It may not be 17$ but surely it's a ton cheaper than 85$


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

kstall said:


> Holy cow. Just checked the Site One site nearest me......46-0-0 $85 a bag!!!! Just 3 years ago I paid $17. This is absolutely insane. I love my yard but I won't be spending that kind of money all summer to keep it green.


According to SiteOne corporate:

"We are seeing the highest costs to date on fertility raw materials: Urea costs have increased 238% in the last 12 months and phosphate costs are up > 100%. Sulfate of Potash (SOP) is up 39% and Muriate of Potash (MOP) is up 200%."

I've been listening to @thegrassfactor talk about this for months on his podcast with two other pros who are members here, so I'm not surprised. Personally, I am buying most of what I need for Spring by March. It won't avoid the price hikes, but it will allow me to get the materials I need and get attention from reps before the Spring rush. And anywhere I can cut materials (e.g. going without a pre-M again this Spring, using grass seed sparingly, etc.) I will.

I listened recently to a farmer complain about input prices. She had no idea what was causing it, and blamed greed, but that is not the cause. A lot of it has to do with availability of natural gas and cold temps, as well as people getting sick and being unable to work for a few weeks in significant numbers over the past year or two. Urea is made from natural gas.


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## mowww (Jan 16, 2018)

@Green +1. Exactly right. The global fert market is steep right now.


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## Burnie (Jun 13, 2020)

kstall said:


> Holy cow. Just checked the Site One site nearest me......46-0-0 $85 a bag!!!! Just 3 years ago I paid $17. This is absolutely insane. I love my yard but I won't be spending that kind of money all summer to keep it green.


It is not that high, yes it did increase 38% from what I was paying last fall, but is around $27+ per bag. Lot more than I expected, but the cost per application per lawn will not kill me. I'll need to make another increase this year to cover it, but not a lot. I am planning on doing a large purchase, for the year, to keep from having to pay more later. Word is it is going to go up more before it comes down.


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

I wonder how much the def market is going to effect this also, anybody know how much of the market of urea is used for trucking?


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## mowww (Jan 16, 2018)

@ABC123 Around 90% of US urea is used for fert. I do know the US uses about 15 million tons of urea for fert each year with around 500,000 (3.3%) going into turf and ornamentals nationwide. Given that the urea for DEF has to be cleaner, many production facilities are not "clean" enough or properly set up for DEF-quality production so we may not see a big swing one way or the other.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

kstall said:


> Holy cow. Just checked the Site One site nearest me......46-0-0 $85 a bag!!!! Just 3 years ago I paid $17. This is absolutely insane. I love my yard but I won't be spending that kind of money all summer to keep it green.


If you spray, just buy DEF instead.


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## sam36 (Apr 14, 2020)

I help my 90 year old grandpa on a 20 acre "farm", most of it is just for hay production but he also keeps around 20 goats. The pandemic has caused the years to run together, so I can't remember if it was 2 years ago or 3... but urea (and AMS) per ton was around $180 at our local co-op. I took over most of the farm duties and was ordering a custom blend of AMS and DAP (18-46-0). But DAP had just doubled in price, I think I paid $400 for a half ton of DAP and another $400 for 3,000 lbs of AMS. That was two years ago. Last year I paid $800 for 2 tons of AMS only. DAP had doubled again and it was now over $800 per ton so I bought none of that and the owner said they were running low on DAP supply and didn't think they'd even have enough money to buy a bulk truck load to restock.

Called the co-op yesterday and they have no fertilizer in stock. They can find no quotes for a truck load of DAP, and they are waiting on quotes for urea and AMS but they expect both of them to be over $800 per ton. The owner said if that is the case, they probably won't even stock fertilizer because no farmers around here will buy at that price.

We used to fertilize 20 acres multiple times a year and spend under $600. Then it was $800 just to do it once. Now we probably aren't going to do it at all this year :| I've been stuck in a doom and gloom mentality for the last two years, and this really isn't helping...


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