Farmers Face Extreme Variation In Input Costs

Farmers Business Network released its 2023 Ag Chemical Price Transparency Report last week, which highlighted the extreme price variation facing farmers.  The report collected information from 37 states and accounts for over 800 insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides.

“The last two years have seen extreme fluctuations in chemical pricing for farmers,” said Kevin McNew, chief economist and VP of FBN Research. “Providing more transparency enables producers to make more informed buying decisions to drive ROI from every input dollar.”  

Across 236 different chemical products, there was a 15% variance, on average, between the average list price of a product and the price farmers actually paid for it.  For example, the average list price for Roundup PowerMAX 3 in June 2022 was $60 per gallon, but farmers paid between $45-$73 during that time. 

Other takeaways from the report include:  

• The product with the widest price discrepancy was dicamba diglycolamine salt (DGA; 4 lbs). There was a 283% variation in what farmers paid for the product, meaning farmers paying the highest prices for dicamba DGA paid nearly three times as much as the farmers who paid the lowest prices for this product. 
• There is a disproportionate impact on farmers paying higher prices. Half of farmers paid an average of 19% more than the average list price, but the other half of farmers who paid below average list price only got about a 14% discount. 
• Farmers who did not buy from FBN could have saved an average of 34% by purchasing FBN chemicals through FBN Direct. 

“Once again, the data shows farmers are paying very different prices for identical products, because by and large, crop protection sellers are not providing transparent pricing and many regions lack competition,” said FBN Co-Founder, Charles Baron.  “FBN helps producers solve this by creating more transparency and providing transparent purchasing options online and through our farmer selling partners, with FBN Direct.”

Click Here to read the reports.

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