A recent survey by the National Corn Growers Association left no doubt that high fertilizer prices will continue to be a big concern for farmers, especially in 2027. Jed Bower, an Ohio farmer and president of the NCGA, talked about the rising level of concern.
“Fertilizer is completely out of sight for what it costs us to raise a crop, but there’s no hope for us at this point. And of course, obviously, you mentioned, yeah, we did a survey. I know Farm Bureau did a survey, a lot of people looking at it, and we’ve been having these conversations, not for months, but for the past couple years, trying to relay to the administration and the Congress, hey, we’re on the verge of big problems in the ag community.”
He said there’s a lot of concentration among U.S. fertilizer producers.
“You know, there’s been no regulations on these giant companies. They know what we can make per bushel, and they decide how much of that percentage they’re going to take, and unfortunately, they’ve taken way more than we can afford, and that’s kind of where we’re sitting right now. We keep telling that message. The administration says that they’re looking into it. I’ve had a lot of conversations in the offices there with USDA, and they definitely are. But I think, as we all realize, it’s a little too late for this year. We’re starting to worry about next year, to be honest.”
Countervailing duties on fertilizer imports need to end for good.
“That can help soon. Unfortunately, now we’re planting, most of the fertilizer is down, so is it going to help this year? Well, probably not for the majority of growers. But we do feel that we can get this overturned. We have a few companies that obviously proposed to have these put on and don’t want to see them go away. And you know, as we’re looking at potentially being in the red for the third or fourth year, they’ve looked at billions of dollars in profits for the past few years. I don’t know when’s enough, enough?”