Fertilizer Prices Put Economic Squeeze On Farmers

By Jonathan Eisenthal

In the coming year, it is estimated that it will cost an average of $220 to fertilize an acre of corn in Minnesota, based on projected 2026 crop input and overhead costs and historical data from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Farm Financial Management/FINBIN. It’s the single largest expense for many farmers, and it represents a 55% increase over the average cost of fertilizer five years ago. The price farmers receive for a bushel of corn remains what it was five years ago.

In recent written testimony submitted to Congress, Mark Mueller, president of Iowa Corn Growers Association, offered a grim assessment:

“The massive increase in the cost of fertilizer is crushing corn growers in Iowa, and they aren’t alone. Growers across the country are facing an impossible decision: buy fertilizer or stay solvent,” Mueller wrote.

Looking for causes to the extreme price rises, Mueller pointed to the concentration of the fertilizer supply into the hands of relatively few companies. The lion’s share of the three main macro nutrients needed to grow corn and many other crops—nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—are sold by only a handful of companies.