DEWEY, Ill. (RFD-TV) — Harvest is in full swing, and we are looking at what next year holds for crop budgets, including fertilizer. One agricultural economist with the University of Illinois says prices could be coming down, depending on your crop.
“Looking at crop budgets for 2026 is where we’re at; we’re building in higher fertilizer costs for corn, and that’s being led by both anhydrous ammonia or nitrogen and DAP,” said Gary Schnitker. “Currently, prices are higher for those than they were at this time last year, so we built in a higher projection. Soybean costs are a little bit lower, primarily because, surprisingly, potash isn’t higher, and the tariff situation, even though we rely heavily on Canada, we seem to have an exemption now, so that’s going to flow okay, I suppose.”
Schnitker adds that early projections indicate soybeans will be more profitable than corn in 2026.
“Higher cost for corn is going to make corn relatively less profitable, and soybeans are impacting that relationship,” Schnitker continued. “We’ll see where farmers make their decisions as far as profitability, but right now, we’re predicting soybeans to be more profitable than corn. So, again, that’s been the case for a while, and you’re beginning to think, well, we do a lot of 50-50 corn and soybeans in this state. Maybe we’re going to have to shade more to soybeans, but that doesn’t look the best either if we consider that China hasn’t bought any of our soybeans, so we’ll see where all that goes.”
The Trump Administration is speaking out. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says an announcement is slated for Tuesday, promising to assist American soybean growers.
The modest cut should slightly reduce borrowing costs on operating loans, land notes, and equipment financing for agriculture, giving some relief to producers under heavy debt loads.
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