Agricultural sprayer in the fieldThough it’s largely because of major gains in corn, soybean and wheat prices and resulting demand from the farm gate, the increase in fertilizer prices — specifically phosphate (P) and potash (K) — is driven by more than $5 corn and $13 soybeans. Global logistics and supply issues caused a shortage of availability in the U.S. market, and that shortage created temporary price spikes in what was generally a lower market in 2020. Production scaled back because of COVID-19 disruptions worldwide, and delays in opening new production facilities in places like Morocco and Saudi Arabia contributed to the domestic supply complications. Moving into the 2021 crop year, those supply issues have partially been resolved, but supply is still tight and combined with high demand driven by strong crop markets, P and K prices will likely be higher than previous years in 2021. See more on the P and K markets.