By Ryan Hanrahan
A new survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation shows that the vast majority of U.S. farmers — roughly 70% — are unable to afford all of the fertilizer they need this season amid rising input costs due to the war in Iran and an already difficult farm economy. The survey was conducted from April 3 to April 11 and had more than 5,700 farmers respond.
The American Farm Bureau Federation’s Faith Parum reported that “farmers in the Southern region reported the greatest difficulty securing fertilizer, with 78% unable to afford all needed inputs this season. Producers in the Northeast and West also reported significant challenges, with 69% and 66%, respectively, unable to afford all required fertilizer, compared to 48% in the Midwest.”
“When producers cannot afford full fertilizer application rates, they may reduce nutrient use or shift acreage decisions, both of which increase the risk of lower yields and reduced production potential in the 2026 crop year,” Parum reported. “Affordability concerns are even more pronounced when viewed by commodity. More than 80% of rice, cotton and peanut producers reported they cannot afford all required fertilizer, highlighting the vulnerability of these production systems to input cost shocks. Over half of all commodities report not being able to afford all fertilizer needs this year.”
Fertilizer Prebooking Rates Vary by Region
Progressive Farmer’s Russ Quinn reported that “Faith Parum, economist at AFBF, said in a Zoom call with reporters Tuesday morning, there has been a lot of discussion about how much fertilizer farmers preordered before the war with Iran. In the AFBF survey, there were large differences between regions and even among crops grown by farmers who had already bought fertilizer. Midwest corn and soybean producers preordered fertilizer at higher rates than Southern farmers who grew cotton and rice.”
Source : illinois.edu