Posted on 04/15/2022 5:47:00 PM PDT by blam
A fertilizer supply shock is imminent for US farmers as CF Industries Holdings, Inc. warned Thursday that rail shipments of crop nutrients would be reduced to top agricultural states, which couldn’t come at the worst time as the Northern Hemisphere spring planting season is underway.
The world’s largest fertilizer company said Union Pacific had hit it with railroad-mandated shipping reductions that would impact nitrogen fertilizers such as urea and urea ammonium nitrate shipments to Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, and California. Union Pacific told CF Industries without advance notice to reduce the volume of private cars on its railroad immediately. This means CF Industries had to decrease shipments by a whopping 20% to stay compliant.
“The timing of this action by Union Pacific could not come at a worse time for farmers,” said Tony Will, president and chief executive officer of CF Industries.
“Not only will fertilizer be delayed by these shipping restrictions, but additional fertilizer needed to complete spring applications may be unable to reach farmers at all. By placing this arbitrary restriction on just a handful of shippers, Union Pacific is jeopardizing farmers’ harvests and increasing the cost of food for consumers,” Will said.
The move is particularly problematic for the Midwest, where 90% of corn and 80% of soybeans are produced in the US. The region is a critical node in the global food system, and tightening the fertilizer supply will only drive up food prices by shrinking harvests.
Farmers have been pressured by record-high fertilizer and diesel costs.
CF Industries released an ominous warning about the lack of fertilizer across the Midwest this year and how it may cause food supply woes:
“If farmers are unable to secure all the nitrogen fertilizer that they require in the current season because of supply chain disruptions such as rail shipping restrictions, the Company expects yield will be lower.
“This will likely extend the timeline to replenish global grains stocks. Low global grains stocks continue to support high front month and forward prices for nitrogen-consuming crops, which has contributed to higher food prices,” CF Industries said.
Josh Linville, direct of fertilizer at StoneX, called this a “black swan” moment for the Midwest.,/B>
UP rail situation:
Sounds like the UP is backed up on shipments. As a result, they are restricting “private car” shipments (i.e. not UP equipment) by almost 20%.
We were already struggling with fert logistics coming into spring. This doesn’t help at all…#blackswan pic.twitter.com/YOo36UWj2J
— Josh Linville (@JLinvilleFert) April 14, 2022
In response to record-high fertilizer costs and tight supply, some farmers have already transitioned millions of acres from corn to soybeans this year (soybeans require very little fertilizer versus corn).
Last month, a tweet from Douglas Karr, the founder of the businesses blog Martech Zone, made the point that “media isn’t even warning you” a food crisis in America is emerging.
It’s almost like this all of this is planned.
———-
….and with a major drought hitting our growing areas, I can say yes. The Lord works in mysterious ways- can you say Revival? Revival is always preceded by nations being brought to their knees.
I agree. That's why I 'high-lighted' "arbitrary restriction" in the article.
Yes, yes. You know I know.
We can’t say that we weren’t warned- I thought that Mike Adams had gone around the bend when I read this, but here we are. From April 6-
Nope Tufu is make out of soybeans. Most of them go to china
Yup. I remember reading something like that. Sounded like 'nutty' stuff then....a week or so ago.
It’s not like this is the first year fertilizer has been shipped by rail.
It’s been done for decades.
Also, fertilizer can be shipped using trucks.
That has also been done for decades.
This is baloney.
Even Taggart Transcontinental eventually fell to Government games and the the Looters and the Moochers.
Yep. Good thing there is no shortage of trucks, or truck drivers, fuel is cheap, and we have months and months before spring planting in the Midwest, so that fertilizer will make it to farms on time, with no significant price increase.
It’s like we’re living thru the final chapters of “Atlas Shrugged”.
It’s all part of the plan.
So WHY is UP backed up on shipments. Could it be that a Biden birdie whispered in the ear of union leaders to slow down the railroads to create or exacerbate shortages?*
*NOTE: This type of tactic is not beyond commies. Look up “Holodomor.”
One of the busiest rail lines goes thru Missouri Valley, Iowa. Couple years ago, they had 50-75 engines sitting idle. With higher gas prices, rail becomes more profitable but now you’re competing against shipping oil, corn/soy beans etc. Whoever pays the most is gong to get the traffic.
Here in North Idaho, there is a HUGE volume of BNSF traffic on the rail lines south out of Sandpoint. Many of the lines converge on the Columbia River Gorge and head down to Portland. LOTS of low-sulfur Powder River Basin coal being shipped overseas.
That’s precisely what Biden’s team wants us to do. They create and/or exacerbate problems, if that’s what they’re really doing, until not just you, but ALL OF US cry out to the government for help, at which point they’ll be ready to swoop in with their neo-Marxist NWO BBB GND etc.
Elon Musk as a Hank Readon/Francisco d’Anconia character.
I did already, See post #4, here.
But Trump got things working. He got things done. This admin does nothing but create problems.
There went Biden’s 15% ethanol fuel proposal.
Who have no voice to influence the Vanguard Fund Managers or the execs who vote the shares.
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