UAN paid $19.00 in 2022, with $10.00 if "one time charges"

Ummm, no it is absolutely NOT an awesome return if someone paid $180 last year. This is the fallacy in your argument and what you are missing

Yes, if one bought at $180 and measured performance as both capital loss and income received is poor. I meant to say if you're just measuring income - like, you've never going to sell UAN - it's pretty good ($19 income on a $180 investment).

Since there is limited new supply of nitrogen fertilizers coming on in the US I think there's a pretty good chance UAN pays nice income for a long long time. So I think someone who bought at last year's high of $180 will still do better (over ten years) than someone who bought, say, a 6% safe preferred stock over the same ten years. In 10 years I wouldn't be surprised to see UAN paying out $180.

However, today you can buy UAN for $102 and get $35 in one year. With that start, UAN is especially attractive as an income producing equity. Who knows, but I'll bet UAN pays out $102 in distributions within five years.