New Survey: Most Farmers Can’t Afford Fertilizer

How dire is the escalating price of fertilizer for America’s farmers and ranchers? The American Farm Bureau Federation knew that it was getting more challenging and conducted a nationwide survey of 5,700 farmers in early April to find out.

The results: nearly 70% of those farmers reported that they were unable to afford all the fertilizer they need. Some fertilizer costs have already increased 40% since the U.S. military strikes began against Iran in February.  

Midwestern producers -- many who focus on corn and soybean production, which can be fertilizer intense -- are more likely to pre-book fertilizer rates. Pre-booking may have spared many of those producers from the price spike that more directly punished farmers in other regions of the country.

Just 19% of farmers in the Southern region reported pre-booking fertilizer for the American Farm Bureau Federation survey. Farmers in the Northeast reported 30% pre-booking prices, while 31% of farmers in the Western region pre-booked.    

Southern farmers lower pre-booking led to increased vulnerability to the rapidly rising fertilizer prices. The region reported that 78% of farmers were unable to afford all their need fertilizer for the upcoming season, potentially threatening yields for the crop year.

It may be no surprise then that the crops most affected by farmers unable to afford their required fertilizer for the year were those widely grow in the South.

Top 5 impacted crops by increased fertilizer costs:

1.      Rice: 88%

2.      Cotton: 86%

3.      Peanuts: 84%

4.      Sorghum: 80%

5.      Oats: 73%

RELATED: A former Republican political strategist and farmer has this advice for politicians this summer to meet the needs of America’s farmers.  

War with Iran Raises Fertilizer and Fuel Costs

Concerns grow that fertilizer and fuel prices will climb more after President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to block the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping passage in the Middle East, as he tries to pressure Iran to make concessions.

The pressure doesn’t just impact Iran. The strait serves as a pathway for 38% of the world’s  seaborne crude oil trade and about 33% of the global seaborne fertilizer trade.  

Secretary Rollins Predicts Fertilizer Price Relief for Farmers

During a stop Monday at Michigan State University, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins maintained that prices for fertilizer and fuel would fall after the war with Iran ends.

The war looks to enter its eighth week.

Rollins said the administration understands the hardship that farmers are enduring right now and directed some of the blame of big agricultural companies.

“While the U.S. government continues to support our farmers, the farmers continue to barely survive year to year,” Rollins said, according to the Michigan Advance. “While at the same time, these companies that are now consolidated show an increase in profitability every time a government payment goes into the system.”

RELATED: A report last summer found strong gains in farmland values in Michigan.