War in the Middle East caused crude oil, gasoline and diesel prices to spike. So did canola prices. However, crude oil and canola prices have moderated with projections that the conflict will be relatively short.
One commodity that continues to increase in price is nitrogen fertilizer.
While the price of urea, 46-0-0 was already increasing, the Middle East conflict has accelerated the rise.
Prices right now vary widely depending upon the supplier, but it’s not uncommon to see urea quoted at around $1200 a tonne.
At its lowest point last summer, the price was around $780.
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture in its 2026 Crop Planning Guide uses a nitrogen cost that equates to around $830 a tonne for urea and a lot of farmers would have locked in most or all of their supply at around that price.
For those needing to buy fertilizer now, it’s going to add significantly to input costs. For a 50 bushel per acre canola yield, the Crop Planning Guide says nitrogen removal is 94 pounds of actual N per acre. That’s 204 pounds per acre of urea. At $830 a tonne, the cost is roughly $77 an acre.
With urea at $1200 a tonne, the per acre cost is $111 – $34 an acre more. Buying early certainly paid dividends.
