Us Farmers Face Fertilizer Price Crisis As Iran War Disrupts Global Supply

Tennessee husbandman Todd Littleton is facing an further $100,000 measure for fertilizer this season, marking a 40 per cent summation from past year, a nonstop consequence of nan warfare successful Iran. He is now scrambling to find ways to screen this unexpected expense.

"The problem is, is we’re truthful strained financially coming into this issue," explained Littleton, a third-generation husbandman from Gibson County successful nan state’s northwest.

"We person had a mates of grounds losses complete nan past mates of years, truthful everyone’s benignant of grabbing astatine straws anyway, and past to person input prices summation yet again, it conscionable really couldn’t hap astatine a worse time."

Littleton, who cultivates corn, soybeans, and wheat, is 1 of thousands of farmers nationwide who will salary importantly much this outpouring for nan basal nutrients their crops require.

Nitrogen-based fertilizer is peculiarly important for corn, typically nan largest harvest successful nan U.S., which feeds nan nation’s livestock and is converted into substance for astir U.S. vehicles.

While farmers person agelong voiced concerns complete fertilizer costs, prices person surged dramatically since nan U.S. and Israel attacked Iran connected 28 February.

This action has caused a important slowdown successful shipping done nan Strait of Hormuz, a captious choke constituent for 20 per cent of nan world’s lipid and earthy gas.

Beyond driving up substance prices, which are captious for fertilizer production, nan shipping disruption has mostly halted nan export of nitrogen fertilizers manufactured successful nan Persian Gulf and restricted entree to cardinal fertilizer ingredients.

About 15 per cent of fertilizer imports to nan U.S. are from nan Middle East, and astir half nan world proviso of nan cardinal constituent urea comes from nan region, on pinch 30 per cent of ammonia, according to nan American Farm Bureau Federation.

“When nan ports started raising their nitrogen prices owed to nan conflict owed to shipping concerns, that straight affects maine present connected nan farm,” Littleton said.

The other costs are difficult to absorb, coming aft respective bad years erstwhile harvest prices were down moreover arsenic expenses kept climbing, Littleton said.

Some farmers whitethorn not find fertilizer

But it could beryllium worse, arsenic immoderate farmers whitethorn not beryllium capable to get fertilizer astatine immoderate price, said Zippy Duvall, president of nan American Farm Bureau Federation.

“We’re being told that galore of our farmers that haven’t preordered their fertilizer and paid for it whitethorn not moreover get nan fertilizer that they’re going to request during nan play aliases for outpouring planting,” Duvall said. “That’s why this business is truthful serious.”

Harry Ott, a cotton, maize and peanut husbandman who besides leads nan South Carolina workplace bureau, said location isn’t capable fertilizer stockpiled successful warehouses to meet request successful nan coming months.

“It is simply a really dire business that our farmers facing,” Ott said.

Experts opportunity don't expect a speedy fix

Even earlier nan latest value increase, different factors successful nan past respective years person led to precocious fertilizer prices, starting pinch nan warfare betwixt Ukraine and Russia, which blocked entree to earthy materials and accrued earthy state prices. China besides trim phosphate exports arsenic it focused much connected home needs.

The latest factors worsened those existing proviso issues, which intends that moreover if nan Iran warfare was resolved, fertilizer prices apt won’t quickly fall, said Jacqui Fatka, a workplace proviso economist for creditor CoBank.

“There’s going to beryllium a tail to this to get everything turned backmost on, sent backmost out,” Fatka said.

And past location is nan clip it takes for shipments from nan Middle East to scope nan U.S. — typically 30 to 45 days to scope nan Port of New Orleans.

Some fertilizer is already stored successful nan U.S. and tin meet request amid nan shortage of Middle East imports, but astatine immoderate constituent that proviso will tally short.

“We don’t rather cognize really it’s going to shingle out,” said Nancy Martinez, head of nationalist policy, waste and acquisition and biotechnology for nan National Corn Growers Association.

Nitrogen- and phosphate-based fertilizers are mostly produced domestically, which helps a small bit, said Anne Villamil, a professor of economics astatine nan University of Iowa.

“But again, power prices are an input, and truthful moreover if you’re producing it successful nan U.S., if nan costs of your inputs goes up, past it’s going to beryllium an summation successful value to nan farmers who want to bargain it,” Villamil said.

Soaring lipid prices could consequence successful higher nutrient prices, fixed nan accrued costs of diesel needed to carrier products to market stores and petroleum products utilized successful integrative packaging, said Chad Hart, an economics professor astatine Iowa State University.

However, nan accrued fertilizer prices shouldn't importantly lead to market shop increases moreover arsenic they put a crimp successful farmers' profits. That's because on-farm costs are only a mini portion of what consumers salary astatine nan supermarket.

Efforts to curb nan deed connected farmers from costly fertilizer

The Trump management said it has taken steps to easiness nan costs of fertilizer, including moving to summation fertilizer imports from Venezuela, which U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins called “a immense measurement that puts workplace information and farmers first.”

The Department of Agriculture besides notes it antecedently announced $12 cardinal successful one-time payments to thief farmers offset losses chiefly owed to tariffs imposed by nan Trump administration. In a statement, nan USDA besides said it has provided much than $30 cardinal successful further assistance to farmers since January 2025, and nan agency noted its support for a much competitory fertilizer marketplace that would yet little prices.

Fatka, of CoBank, said nan $12 cardinal doesn’t spell acold for farmers pinch a costs of $44 per maize acre erstwhile nan USDA estimates astir $900 per acre for costs of accumulation for nan mean U.S. farmer.

Still, workplace bankruptcies stay rare, pinch only 315 past twelvemonth — a mini percent of nan astir 1.9 cardinal farms nationally. And prices for nan nation’s 2 largest crops — maize and soybeans — person been climbing recently.

Tom Waters, who farms astir 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) of corn, soybeans and wheat eastbound of Kansas City, said nan summation of fertilizer prices on pinch different costs makes it reliable to make a profit erstwhile harvest prices are truthful low.

“The margins get smaller and smaller truthful we conscionable person to really activity difficult to trim our costs and beryllium arsenic frugal arsenic we tin beryllium but still supply nan ungraded and harvest what it needs to turn and produce,” Waters said.