Headline Stack
💰 DTN: Corn Belt retail urea reaches $858/ton, up 49% year over year
📋 House plans farm bill floor vote week of April 27; amendment deadline April 22
🌱 USDA budget would cut NRCS staff 84–87%, leaving 46 states with fewer than 10 employees
🫘 American Soybean Association lands $14M in federal trade support as Brazil forecasts 113.6 MMT
🌽 University of Illinois forecasts 2026 December corn at $4.15, November soybeans at $10.30
Top Story
💰 Corn Belt retail urea hit $858 per ton the week of April 22, up 49% year over year. — LINK
Retail urea in the Corn Belt reached $858 per ton the week of April 22, 27% higher than a month earlier and 49% above the same week in 2025, according to the DTN Fertilizer Index survey of retailers. Phosphates moved with it: DAP was reported at $894 per ton and MAP at $932 per ton, with six of the eight major fertilizers DTN tracks showing sizeable week-over-week and year-over-year increases. The moves land in the middle of spring sidedress and pre-plant application windows for corn. DTN attributes the continued climb to tight global nitrogen supply, elevated natural gas input costs in Europe, and disruption from the U.S. and Israel's conflict with Iran, which has pressured Middle East urea exports since last year. Retail fertilizer prices have not fully recovered from the spike that followed Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and the current DTN index marks the highest Corn Belt urea level the survey has recorded since summer 2022.
More This Week
📋 House farm bill floor vote scheduled for week of April 27 — LINK
House Republican leadership scheduled a floor vote on the Farm, Food, and National Security Act for the week of April 27, with the amendment filing deadline set for April 22; a coalition of 330 farm groups sent House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries a letter urging passage.
"Farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses have been operating under farm bill policies written in 2018, and the landscape has changed significantly since that time. Simply put, agriculture and rural America cannot continue to manage the challenges of 2026 with the solutions from 2018," said Christy Seyfert, Farm Credit Council President and CEO.
House Agriculture Committee Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) sent a letter urging Democrats to vote against the bill, citing cuts to federal nutrition assistance programs ahead of November's midterm elections.
🌱 Producers lobby Congress over proposed 85% NRCS staffing cut — LINK
USDA's proposed fiscal year 2027 budget would reduce Conservation Technical Assistance funding from $850 million to $111.5 million and cut NRCS staff 84–87%, leaving 46 of 51 states with fewer than 10 NRCS employees; Minnesota would drop from 38 to six, South Dakota from 53 to eight, and North Dakota from 48 to seven.
"The biggest issue we're having up here is staffing. There's just, I mean, like in East Polk, where I do all of my NRCS stuff out of, there's one person in the NRCS office. And Polk County is 96 miles wide," said Gabe Arveson, a beginning farmer in Polk County, Minnesota.
More than 500 producers signed the letter to congressional leaders; the House Agriculture Committee's farm bill proposal would also remove $1 billion from EQIP, according to Invest In Our Lands.
🫘 Soybean association gets $14M federal award as Brazil forecasts record 113.6 MMT — LINK
The American Soybean Association received $14 million through USDA's America First Trade Promotion Program — the largest single award among 55 trade groups sharing $165.7 million — as Brazil's 2026 soybean export forecast reaches a record 113.6 million metric tons, with China as the leading destination.
"For soybean farmers, demand is everything. This funding helps strengthen long-term market access and ensures U.S. soy remains competitive in a global marketplace, keeping American farmers at the forefront of growing global demand," said Scott Metzger, ASA President and Ohio farmer.
U.S. soybean farmers intend to plant 84.7 million acres in 2026, a 4% increase over last year; 84% of U.S. farmers reported being concerned or very concerned about Brazilian soybean exports in Purdue University and CME Group's January 2026 Ag Economy Barometer.
🌽 Early planting pace raises questions over 2026 new-crop price forecast — LINK
University of Illinois economists forecast 2026 December corn averaging $4.15 per bushel and November soybeans at $10.30, notable discounts to current futures premiums, based on historical patterns linking early planting pace to higher final yields.
USDA's April 20 Crop Progress report showed 12% of U.S. soybean acres planted, 5 percentage points ahead of the same date in 2025, while corn planting is also running ahead of the five-year average.
Analysts note that years in which a large share of corn acres go in before May 1 have historically correlated with national yields above trendline, which places downward pressure on new-crop futures.
Corn Belt retail urea reached $858 per ton the week of April 22, 2026 — 49% above year-ago levels and 27% higher than just one month prior, according to the DTN Fertilizer Index.