Fertiliser Prices Put Bite on Fruit, Veg Growers (thewest.com.au)

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May 27, 2008

Prices for fresh produce will need to rise to cover a jump in fertiliser prices that has added to fuel and labour costs, WA fruit and vegetable growers warn.
  
Prices for fertiliser have more than doubled since December, with distributors warning of further rises as international supplies become increasingly difficult to source.
  
WA Vegetable Growers Association president David Anderson said the increase in fertiliser prices, which accounted for 10 to 20 per cent of running costs, was the latest of many rising expenses which were not being matched by farm gate prices.
  
He said higher prices were ultimately needed to cover the increasing costs, but conceded the end retail price ultimately depended on supply and consumer demand for each crop.
  
Julian Baker, owner of fertiliser and chemical supplier Growers Rural, said wholesale prices for standard nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compound fertiliser had doubled to about $1400 a tonne in five months while prices for other top-grade fertilisers, common to hydroponics, had trebled.
  
“The rise is staggering,” he said. “Basically we are buying whatever we can get and paying whatever we can to secure supplies.”

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