Congressional Members Address Fertilizer with President Biden

Haylie Shipp

Nearly 100 members of Congress including 35 from the Cotton Belt recently wrote to President Joe Biden. The purpose of the correspondence? A plea to review all available options to lower the cost of fertilizer.

Reese Langley, Vice President of Washington Operations for the National Cotton Council...

"Depending on which product we're talking about, we're seeing price increases between 100 and 200-percent over where they were last year."

More than outlining the problem, Langley says the letter offered specific solutions...

"For example, there's still the vaccine mandate in place for cross border trucking and so that is impacting the capacity to bring some of these fertilizer products into the U.S. That could be exacerbating these price increases so that's one thing that the letter is asking the Administration to loosen or remove."

They're also asking the Department of Agriculture to look at all of the authorities and funding capabilities that they have and how they might use that to either directly or indirectly support producers that are feeling the financial strain from higher prices.

And since we're talking cotton, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol announcing late last month that had extended the deadline for growers to enroll. But it's creeping up. That deadline is April 30. TrustUSCotton.org for details.