Report: U.S. Corn Growers Paying More for Inputs than Brazilian Farmers

The National Corn Growers Association has released a new report saying U.S. farmers are paying significantly more for crop inputs than Brazilian farmers, one of their biggest competitors in the global marketplace. In some cases, the report showed that U.S. farmers are paying nearly twice as much as their Brazilian counterparts.

NCGA posted the report and reactions from its leaders on Wednesday.

"I think there has long been a belief among U.S. farmers that we pay more for the same products compared to our international counterparts," said Matt Frostic, Michigan farmer and NCGA first vice president. "This work confirms our fears: we are paying substantially more for our inputs. But the price gouging that is happening for U.S. farmers is even worse than many of us suspected."

Among the report's findings:

• Across all corn seed comparisons, U.S. prices averaged 68% higher than Brazil's from 2023 to 2025.

• Fungicides showed some of the largest price differences. U.S. prices in some comparisons were more than double Brazilian prices, depending on the crop, product category, active ingredient, and year.

• Across corn and soybeans, U.S. herbicide prices were higher than Brazilian prices, with many comparisons showing U.S. prices nearly double Brazil's.

• U.S. corn insecticide prices averaged 87% higher than Brazil's from 2023 to 2025.

Why are costs higher?

Why are prices higher in the United States? NCGA said the answer is complex, but the organization argued that one major factor is that the largest manufacturers of herbicides and fungicides hold greater market share in the U.S., giving them more pricing power.

The report states:

The top five global R&D manufacturers lead in both markets and hold a somewhat larger share in the U.S. than in Brazil. Their products carry a premium in both countries, but that premium is much larger in the U.S., reflecting a greater share of more complex formulations.

Brazil relies more heavily on lower-cost active ingredients, while U.S. growers use some of those same molecules alongside more expensive formulations. Widely used active ingredients in both countries, including glufosinate; 2,4-D; atrazine; mesotrione; and S-metolachlor, followed the overall trend of higher U.S. prices.

Even glyphosate, a more commoditized active ingredient used broadly in both markets, tracked more closely than other herbicides but still cost U.S. growers about 35% more than Brazilian growers in 2025.

RELATED: Purdue University released a report in the spring that details why Brazil farmers have input advantages over U.S. farmers. 

NCGA has raised concerns about rising input costs for years. Beyond seed and pesticide prices, the group pointed to trade actions that it said have further increased farmers' costs.

The report stated: 

In 2021, phosphate prices spiked after Mosaic—and later J.R. Simplot—successfully petitioned for countervailing duties on imported phosphate. NCGA opposed the move and called on Mosaic to withdraw its petition. Several years later, Corteva Agriscience successfully sought duties on imported 2,4-D. And last week Bayer filed a similar petition seeking duties on imported glyphosate.

Cost Control

What is NCGA doing to help lower costs?

The organization is calling for greater transparency from input suppliers and pricing that better reflects today's economic conditions. It is also pursuing policy initiatives it said would make U.S. farmers more globally competitive, pointing to Brazil's tariffs and trade barriers on U.S. ethanol while benefiting from lower input costs.

NCGA is also pushing for legislative changes to the countervailing duty process that would require the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission to consider the public interest before imposing duties on agricultural products.