Why It Matters
The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held a hearing on May 12 to examine soaring fertilizer costs that witnesses described as a "generational event" for American agriculture. The Trump administration has taken steps to ease prices (including a Jones Act waiver and adding phosphate and potash to the critical minerals list) but Democratic members fired back that the administration's own tariffs and military action in Iran have made the crisis worse.
The Big Picture
Fertilizer prices have been elevated for years, but the closure of the Strait of Hormuz following military conflict in Iran accelerated the crisis. According to testimony from Corey Rosenbosch, president and CEO of the Fertilizer Institute, the closure disrupted roughly 34 percent of globally traded urea, 20 percent of phosphate, and half of the world's sulfur exports. Meanwhile, China has restricted fertilizer exports and Russia has damaged or shuttered dozens of nitrogen plants. Farm bankruptcies rose 46 percent last year, with 86 Chapter 12 filings in 2026 alone. A North Dakota State University analysis cited by ranking member Klobuchar found that administration tariffs added nearly $1 billion in costs to critical farm inputs between February and October.
What They're Saying
- Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS): "American farmers are price takers on both ends. That's not a market. It's a trap."
- Trent Kubik, President, South Dakota Corn Growers Association: "Market power has allowed manufacturers to maintain higher prices at the expense of the U.S. farmer."
- Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM): "We just want a straight answer, man. Farmers and ranchers across the country are hurting."
The hearing's most confrontational exchange came when Marshall pressed Rosenbosch repeatedly on whether the Fertilizer Institute supports removing a 16 percent countervailing duty on Moroccan phosphate imports. Rosenbosch refused to take a position, citing member companies on both sides of the case. Marshall fired back that farmers paid nearly $7 billion in excess costs over five years because of that duty, while one company controls 64 percent of U.S. phosphate production. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) echoed Marshall's position, calling on the administration to remove the tariff.
Luján was the hearing's most visibly frustrated member, demanding a yes-or-no answer from Rosenbosch on whether the Iran conflict directly caused the fertilizer price spike since February. When Rosenbosch deflected, Luján pointed to the witness's own written testimony to establish the answer.
Andy Green, Partner, Center Market Strategies and former USDA senior adviser, testified that a recent merger created a company controlling 60 percent of one fertilizer type and 30 percent of another, and called the FTC's post-merger review "a mistake." He called for antitrust enforcement, transparency legislation, and renewed investment in domestic capacity. Joshua Westling, CEO, J. Westling and Company, who is developing Project Meadowlark, a new fertilizer facility in Nebraska, warned that without faster federal permitting and early-stage capital support, domestic production cannot come online quickly enough to matter.
Political Stakes
The hearing put Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), the committee chair, in a delicate position. He praised the Trump administration's actions while simultaneously calling for Congress to provide emergency working capital for the 2026 crop season.
Several Republicans, including Marshall and Grassley, broke with the administration's trade posture by calling for the removal of duties that protect a single domestic phosphate producer. Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune (R-SD), who attended the hearing, co-sponsored the Fertilizer Price Transparency Act with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a rare bipartisan pairing on a contentious agricultural issue.
The Other Side
Rosenbosch argued that fertilizer is a globally traded commodity and that domestic price controls or tariffs could backfire by driving global supply toward higher-paying markets like Brazil and India. He noted that India recently tendered for 2.5 million metric tons of urea at nearly $1,000 per metric ton, effectively setting a global floor price. Even if the Strait of Hormuz reopened tomorrow, witnesses testified it could take months or years for damaged regional production facilities to come back online.
What's Next
The committee record remains open for five business days. Boozman signaled he intends to push for a Senate farm bill that addresses fertilizer and input costs, building on the House's passage of a bipartisan farm bill. Transparency legislation, including the Fertilizer Price Transparency Act and the Fertilizer Research Act, drew support from both parties and from the industry itself, making those bills the most likely near-term legislative vehicles.
The Bottom Line
A bipartisan consensus is forming around transparency and domestic production investment, but the deeper dispute over tariffs, antitrust enforcement, and the Iran conflict leaves the path to meaningful near-term relief for farmers uncertain.
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