Tim Gilliam of Camp Chemical Corp. in Roxboro said Tuesday that the cost of fertilizer has skyrocketed over the past couple of years, with current prices on bagged fertilizer running about $6 more now than last year.

“It’s gotten to the point where customers can’t afford to buy fertilizer,” Gilliam said. “And it hurts the farmers worse” than homeowners and other consumers because of the amount farmers must purchase. But there is another factor that plays a role in farming, Gilliam said.

“The retail places [such as Lowe’s] buy in the spring,” he said, in order to keep bagged fertilizer on hand for the homeowner. “We buy every week,” he said of his company, “at market price, and every four weeks or so, they raise the price” of fertilizer ingredients.

All over the world, Gilliam explained, “We are consuming more food” and grain is a product of food that also uses a lot of fertilizer. “We are growing more grain, so we buy a lot of fertilizer,” he said.

Gilliam said that China was often blamed for rising prices around the world, “but it’s just one country.” >>

China is importing about 20 percent more than it ever has, he noted, and is a large consumer of grain, fertilizer and many other products.

But, worldwide, the demand is just too high for the current supply. Brazil and other South American countries, along with India and others, he said, snap up all of the phosphate, potash (or potassium) and nitrogen they can get their hands on.

Canada is the largest producer of potash, Gilliam said, with Russia and China producing large amounts as well. Some potash comes from the western United States, but “we’re shipping that overseas as fast as we can,” he said of his country.

The price of potash has risen from $225 a ton to nearly $500 a ton, Gilliam said, while phosphate has gone from $312 to between $800 and $900 a ton this year.

Phosphate is mined along the coast of North Carolina and Florida, and that, too, is being shipped worldwide to try and fill the demand.

Gilliam said that record high fuel prices contributed somewhat to the price of fertilizer, but the weak dollar and worldwide demand were the major culprits for consumers here.

“Fuel prices affect nitrogen,” he said, “but that has not gone up to the extent the others have.”

Gilliam said Russian potash “is worth more than potash from other places and they don’t ship to the United States.”

A recent mine flood, along with the fact that the potash garners a higher price elsewhere, has caused Russia to stop shipping the product here.

While the U.S. remains a “big part of the world’s grain production,” Gilliam said, the country no longer produces half or more of worldwide grain supplies.

Although it might appear farmers are making money on corn and soybean crops, “the inputs,” like fertilizer and fuel, “are wiping out the gains.”

Gilliam is also concerned about inflation growing worse, as grain prices are reflected in meat, bread and other items on grocery store shelves.

The current situation was formerly unheard of, he said, for in the past, if one country or area was suffering a shortage of grain, other countries would be able to make up the difference.

Now, however, “There is a world grain shortage and stocks are low on wheat, corn and beans.”

The only thing that Gilliam foresees as a means of slowing the rising costs would be a “big bumper crop of grain worldwide.”

Derek Day, director of the Person County Cooperative Extension Service office, said the price of fertilizer was hurting farmers here.

He and Gilliam have discussed different blends, Day said, to help farmers make the best choices for their particular soil type and needs.

Day is advising farmers to sample their soil and cut back on certain nutrients where possible.

“Some fertilizer material may not be available at any cost” in the near future, Day said.

The Extension director is advising farmers to consult with dealers like Gilliam about ways to shift the nutrient ratio where possible in order to make use of potassium and phosphate levels that may already be in the soil.