It looks like 2010 could be the year that farmers get a deal on their fertilizer purchases. According to an article on the AgWeb site, University of Nebraska extension soils specialist Gary Hergert says prices remain well below the highs from a little over a year ago and farmers should be able to make some good deals. In the case of nitrogen, Hergert says urea prices are at at their lowest levels since 2006 and there are high ammonia inventories in the Corn Belt. That means it is not a bad time to nail down supply for the coming year before a current glut of inventory is used up, he says. “The best nitrogen buy is ammonia. With the late corn harvest, there was little fall application through most of the Corn Belt and this has created high inventories. Ammonia FOB the Corn Belt is now running just over $350/ton with dealers asking $400/ton.” Potash prices have fallen by half from last summer to around $400 per ton and have “recently taken another small drop,” Hergert says. “In the western hemisphere, potash prices are effectively controlled by the Canadians who have much of the world supply,” Hergert adds. “They have the advantage over the Russians and Europeans because they have lower transportation costs to get it to the U.S. Potash prices took much longer to decline than nitrogen and phosphorus.”