The ongoing blockade of ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz has affected the passage of oil, finished fertilizer products, and the raw materials used to synthesize fertilizer. Exacerbated by limited supply, the price of fertilizer has steadily increased since the beginning of the war. On April 27, the price of urea was at $692 per metric ton, a 47 percent increase since the war began. The price of other fertilizers like diammonium phosphate was at $725 per metric ton. Retail prices of all major fertilizer products have been trending rapidly upwards.
Following President’s Trump’s announcement assuring safe passage of ships in the strait, urea prices have fallen to $585 per metric ton, but fertilizer prices remain volatile and somewhat hard to predict due to the ongoing uncertainties of the standoff between the United States and Iran.
How much fertilizer is applied in the United States?
This crisis serves as a stark reminder of how important fertilizer is as an agricultural input and the widespread nature of its use in US farming systems. Data show that in 2022, approximately 236 million cropland acres in the country, constituting roughly 78 percent of the total 301 million acres, were treated with synthetic commercial fertilizers of some kind. Farmers apply a majority of fertilizer, especially nitrogen fertilizer, in the spring months to major row crops like corn.
In a recently released report authored by my colleague Dr. Precious Tshabalala and me, we found that in 2023, farmers in the United States used about 11.62 million metric tons (MMT) of nitrogen fertilizer on all crops. Beyond national data, this report also focused on fertilizer use in three major commodity-crop farming states: Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, which contain some of the highest fertilizer-treated cropland acreage. The report estimated that in Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, nitrogen fertilizer application on corn and soybean ranged between 565,856 and 883,462 metric tons.
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