Corn Growers Tackle Rising Fertilizer Costs

By Lesly McNitt

Spring has sprung in the nation’s capital. The sun is shining. Plants and flowers are blooming. Weekend marathons are happening across the city. Yet the discussions taking place in the halls of power here are a reminder that all is not rosy across the country and around the world.

As the conflict in the Middle East rages on, and the Strait of Hormuz remains all but closed, growers are feeling the pinch as diesel fuel and fertilizer prices climb higher and become harder to attain. But if nothing else, the conflict is also exposing structural problems in the highly concentrated fertilizer industry that plagued growers well before the strait was closed.

America’s corn growers are entering the fourth year of negative returns, and input costs, including fertilizers, have long been too high. The National Corn Growers Association has worked to address these problems by encouraging Congress and the White House to open more domestic and international demand and by launching NCGA’s Input Task Force, which is charged with getting to the bottom of why input costs are so high and developing recommendations that can help address root causes. NCGA has been leading the charge to elevate these issues with the federal government as well.

While we have seen forward movement on many of our policy and regulatory priorities, we continue to hit a brick wall as we have called on U.S. – based fertilizer conglomerates, J.R. Simplot and Mosaic Company, to do their part in addressing higher prices.