USDA, NAWG Target Sky‑High Fertilizer Costs Hitting Wheat Growers

Fertilizer costs remain a concern as discussions around inputs continue to grow in the agriculture industry. The US Department of Agriculture is working with multiple agencies to address the issue. National Association of Wheat Growers, CEO Sam Kieffer,

“The International Trade Commission is sitting right now on a process of whether or not the countervailing duties on phosphate imports from Russia and Morocco should continue to be in place. We are arguing they should not. Over the last five years, we believe that the countervailing duties, or the tariff or the tax on phosphates from Russia and Morocco has increased fertilizer costs for wheat growers alone by just shy of $1 billion yeah, a billion dollars for wheat growers, that's a lot of money, particularly when you've got very tight margins. If you split a billion dollars up across all growers, assuming everything's equal over five years, yeah, that's probably about $20 an acre, and that could have made a difference between red and black ink for a couple of years.”

And US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the administration is working to ease fertilizer costs for farmers. He told the House Ways and Means Committee recently that USDA is reviving a fertilizer program that started under the Biden administration and never fully launched, saying the department is reviewing applications to bring more producers into the market. They will also be they will also be working on permit reform.