Crop farmers' fears as fertiliser costs 'soar'
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The price of manufactured agricultural fertiliser has "soared", according to NFU Scotland.
It said the rise was linked to the temporary closure earlier this month of two UK fertiliser factories following a spike in gas prices.
NFUS said some farmers had not yet placed orders for the coming year, while deliveries to others had been hit by the disruption to supplies.
It warned there could be a knock-on effect on next year's crop yields.
Manufactured, or inorganic, fertiliser and also nitrogen are used by arable farmers to improve the condition and fertility of soils.
NFUS said many of these growers did not have access to livestock manure as an organic fertiliser.
Earlier this month, US-owned fertiliser manufacturer CF Industries suspended production at its two main UK sites due to increased gas costs.
The factories produce CO2 as a by-product and the temporary closures led to a cut of 60% of the UK's food-grade carbon dioxide supply.
Work resumed after CF Industries negotiated a deal with the UK government.
Around the same time, a major continental European fertiliser manufacturer also announced it was scaling back production.
The farmers' union, NFUS, said the "shock waves" of the disruption to production were still being felt.
NFUS crops policy manager David Michie said: "Any loss of production from these sites in the UK and Europe are of great concern to members and come at a difficult time for a sector already facing issues around labour and haulage."
He added: "Many specialist arable, potato, and horticultural businesses do not have livestock enterprises, and will have difficulty in accessing bulky organic livestock manures as an alternative source of nitrogen.
"So any shortfall in supplies of inorganic nitrogen could have knock on effects on the area and yields of arable, potato, and horticulture crops."