Klobuchar Has Questions About Fertilizer Supplies

Ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee, Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar, says one of the most important things on her mind is the price of fertilizer.

At the recent Agri-Pulse Ag and Food Policy Summit conference, the democrat said:

“Last month, as farmers began preparations for the spring planting season, fertilizer components like urea spiked 25 percent,” she told attendees. “Ammonia, phosphate, sulfate, and potassium have also sharply eroded what little profit margin exists on the farms this year.”

Photo: USDA

Klobuchar also said that, since the 1980s, the number of companies producing ammonia has declined substantially.

“Today, four companies control more than three-quarters of the nitrogen fertilizer in the U.S., while potash and phosphate fertilizer markets are 100 percent controlled by these four companies,” she added. “The increased concentration in the fertilizer industry has put the farmers in a really hard situation, and the Iran war only makes that situation even worse.”

You can watch Klobuchar's remarks at the Agri-Pulse Summit by Clicking Here.

Photo: USDA

Last week, Klobuchar, along with Majority Leader John Thune and Senator Roger Marshall, both Republicans, introduced bipartisan bills to address high fertilizer costs in the wake of the war in Iran, tariff threats on fertilizer imports, and fertilizer market consolidation.

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