Why It Matters
American farmers are heading into the 2026 growing season facing fertilizer costs that are squeezing margins and, in some cases, forcing changes to planting decisions. Anhydrous ammonia is running at $1,116 per ton, up eight percent in a single month; UAN32 is up seven percent; and DAP is up five percent. The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee has scheduled a hearing for May 12 to examine what is driving those costs and what the federal government should do about it.
If fertilizer costs remain elevated and farmers continue pulling back on applications, the downstream effects could ripple through crop yields, food prices, and U.S. agricultural competitiveness.
Boozman chairs the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) serving as Ranking Member.
A Market Under Pressure
The backdrop for this agricultural fertilizer policy hearing is a fertilizer market that has been under strain from multiple directions simultaneously.
Tariffs have played a documented role in tightening domestic supply. The Fertilizer Institute found that tariff uncertainty (not just the tariffs themselves) suppressed fertilizer import volumes during 2025. One analysis found imports were down 33 percent from tariff-exempt countries and 47 percent from tariff-affected countries. TFI's president was quoted as saying: "We just didn't see (imports) building in 2025, and now this is where we find ourselves as we entered 2026."
Fortune reported in late April that tariffs, war, and historic drought had converged into what it described as a "perfect storm" for U.S. farmers, with the USDA projecting food prices will rise 3.6 percent and "rising fuel and fertilizer prices promise across-the-board increases."
The American Farm Bureau Federation documented the on-the-ground consequences in a survey showing farmers were already adjusting fertilizer purchases and application decisions in response to rising costs, warning that "if disruptions persist, these adjustments could affect yields, acreage decisions and overall production potential in the 2026 crop year."
Congress and DOJ Move In
The fertilizer supply chain has also attracted the attention of federal law enforcement. A Bloomberg report from March 4, 2026, indicated the Department of Justice was already probing the U.S. fertilizer market for possible price fixing. This development prompted Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to send letters to five of the largest fertilizer producers and to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding answers about potential price gouging and market manipulation.
Hawley's letters cited a more than 60 percent overall increase in fertilizer prices, including a 95 percent increase in nitrogen fertilizer prices. Civil Eats reported that Hawley pressed the companies with "detailed questions related to price gouging."
AgWeb noted that fertilizer market dominance was "under fire" from both farmers and Congress, with producers reporting they had held off on purchases, hoping for price relief, stating, "That's obviously not coming with the current environment."
The Executive Branch Weighs In
The hearing is also unfolding against a backdrop of coordinated executive-legislative action. Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) issued a statement alongside USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins calling for a "reliable, affordable, domestically secure fertilizer supply." Separately, reporting from KSST Radio indicated the U.S. government was preparing to tap tariff revenue to address persistently high fertilizer prices.
Agri-Pulse, which first reported the hearing's scheduling, stated, "As fertilizer prices stay stubbornly high, the Senate Agriculture Committee has scheduled a hearing next week focused on the supply and affordability of commercial crop nutrients."
The Political Stakes
Fertilizer industry participants and related interests spent roughly $2.875 million lobbying on issues directly relevant to this hearing over the past year.
CF Industries was the largest spender at $1.36 million across multiple filings, lobbying on fertilizer market dynamics, clean energy tax credits, the Farm Bill, and USMCA. Mosaic Co. spent $200,000 focused specifically on phosphate fertilizer markets, supply chain issues, and tariff concerns. ICL Specialty Products, an Israeli fertilizer producer, spent $110,000 lobbying on fertilizer import tariffs across four filings.
Agricultural biotechnology firm Pivot Bio spent $320,000 on fertilizer and climate innovation issues, while one filing totaling $250,000 specifically addressed the Fertilizer Transparency Act and the Homegrown Fertilizer Act, legislation directly tied to the supply and affordability questions the committee plans to examine. Ammonia and nitrogen producers accounted for an additional $330,000 in lobbying activity, and potash and phosphate producers spent roughly $195,000.
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