Nutrien’s third quarter earnings were down 70 per cent, from $82 million at the end of September last year to $25 million this year. The company’s third-quarter report says the earnings are lower mostly because of lower potash selling prices globally and retail earnings. However, sales volumes for the third quarter and the first nine months of the year were the highest on record. Sales volumes for potash topped over 11.1 million tonnes in the first three quarters of the year, compared to over 9.9 million tonnes for the same time period last year.