Can Australia make its own fertiliser without fossil fuels?

Lead

A war thousands of kilometres from Australia’s farms is quietly reshaping what gets planted and what will be available at supermarkets in the future. Fertiliser supply chains are tightening and prices are surging as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, leaving farmers questioning what to plant and how to reduce reliance on expensive fertilisers, as reported by ABC Australia.

Crops need nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen for strong yields. But Australia only produces a fraction of the fertiliser it needs. Nearly all the country’s nitrogen fertiliser is imported, including urea — about 60 per cent of which travels through the Middle East, according to ABC News.

Coverage comparison

ABC Australia has covered the issue from two related angles. One report focuses on the immediate impact of the war on fertiliser supply, highlighting how Australian farmers are reconsidering their planting decisions and seeking to reduce their dependence on costly inputs. The other takes a more analytical approach, examining the country’s underlying vulnerability to fertiliser shortages and the long-term potential for alternative production methods.

Both reports agree on the core facts: Australia imports the vast majority of its nitrogen fertiliser, and the current disruption is the third supply shock in recent years, following the COVID pandemic in 2020 and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Key claims

• Australia imports over 2 million tonnes of fertiliser each year, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, as cited by ABC News.
• Fertilisers are made from fossil fuels: hydrocarbons like methane are a major ingredient in the world’s most widely used fertilisers, along with the energy needed to produce and transport them.
• About 60 per cent of Australia’s urea travels through the Middle East, as reported by ABC News.
• Organic dairy farmer Mark Lambert has not used synthetic fertiliser on his Tasmanian paddocks for more than a decade. He focuses on soil health by balancing pH and growing at least three grass, clover and herb species to introduce more nutrients.
• Researchers at the University of Tasmania are studying ways to reduce synthetic nitrogen on dairy farms.
• Marit Kragt, a researcher in agriculture at the University of Western Australia, says the farming industry has flagged concerns about fertiliser supply vulnerabilities for years, citing GrainGrowers’ 2023 report. “It has always been a predicted risk, and it has just become painfully obvious,” she says.
• Australian farms are already using fertiliser sparingly by global standards because of cost, according to Professor Kragt, with widespread practices like no-till cropping, stubble retention and variable-rate application. “We’re really punching above our weight, both in environmental performance and [crop] production.”

Perspectives

Organic farming advocate

Mark Lambert, an organic dairy farmer from Tasmania, argues that synthetic fertilisers are a “drug” and that farmers can return to traditional methods with a scientific basis. He applies phosphate rock, lime, dolomite and gypsum, recycles nutrients from cow manure, and benefits from better price guarantees in the organic milk market.

Industry and research community

Professor Marit Kragt of the University of Western Australia represents a more mainstream agricultural perspective, advising that farmers are already using fertiliser efficiently and that short-term measures — such as deals with other countries, reviving onshore manufacture, and federal budget provisions — may help ease the current shortage. In the long term, the industry is looking towards technologies that could reduce reliance on imports.