Fertiliser prices must come down in line with commodity prices or companies risk ‘backlash’ from farmers

Australia’s peak fertiliser body has warned domestic prices for the vital input will need to “unravel” at the same time as global commodity prices to mitigate backlash from farmers trying to make a profit. Fertiliser Australia executive manager Stephen Annells was among a raft of speakers at the Australian Potash and Phosphate Conference in Perth on Wednesday, labelling distorted public opinion, emissions reduction targets, fertiliser costs and the rise of pseudo-science as the main risks for industry. He urged fertiliser companies to push the importance of the input and the science behind it to politicians and the broader public. “Distorted public opinion is a really sinister thing we face... democracy seems to have taken over from science,” he said. “We are operating in the social media world, and you talk to people about fertiliser and they have no idea other that what they have read on Facebook and it is terrible. We are having to fight ignorance with science. “But we have to make sure those people that make the decisions are seeing the science.” Mr Annells acknowledged high fertiliser prices were an issue for farmers but said companies were at the mercy of global prices. “There is not much we can do about fertiliser prices ... but I hope they are unravelling around the same time as commodity prices, and if they don’t we will face major backlash ... particularly from grower groups,” he said. Australian farmers have been challenged by global fertiliser prices hovering around record levels, with domestic pricing set by global parity. Recent research by an international think tank revealed the huge surge in prices and government budgets under severe economic strain are contributing to food price inflation. Analysis by the international groups GRAIN and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found that based on 2020 import numbers Australia would have paid 280 per cent more for fertiliser in 2022. The report “the fertiliser trap” estimates Australian producers paid more than $US1.85 billion ($2.8b) for fertiliser in 2022 than they did in 2020, when farmers spent $U646 million. The Greens this month urged for greater transparency with the creation of public indexes that could track the price of fertilisers on the domestic market. There are currently no published price for the input. Mr Annells also revealed Fertiliser Australia was working on ways to bring biological and organic fertilisers “into the fold”, to protect companies “doing the right thing” in an unregulated market. Fertiliser Australia data shows 5.4 million tonnes of fertiliser are sold in Australia each year and about half of this is manufactured domestically – despite most of the materials used being imported.