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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, March 30, 2025
The White House issued an executive order to boost domestic production of a slate of minerals – including potash – but an industry analyst thinks the efforts are misplaced.
Donald Trump is doubling down on his prediction that farmers are going to sell a lot more of their crops domestically because of his trade wars. Trump imposed higher tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico on Tuesday. And in his speech Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress, Trump reiterated his plan to impose reciprocal tariffs starting April 2.
The majority of Dustin Edwards’ annual fertilizer use consists of anhydrous ammonia. Edwards, who farms 5,500 acres in eastern Kansas, believes the $640 per ton it costs now is about double what the market should be.
The fertilizer industry and a raft of farm groups are backing legislation that would add phosphate and potash to the list of minerals considered “critical” to the national security of the United States, arguing that too much of the world’s reserves of the vital crop inputs is located outside the country and vulnerable to supply shocks.
Brazil, a country that produces 42% of the world’s soybeans and 12% of its corn, is intrinsic to global food production, but all of that hinges on the South American nation’s ability to bring in billions of dollars’ worth of fertilizer from thousands of miles away. It’s a situation that Matt Simpson, CEO of the company Brazil Potash, said he wants to help change.
Strong global demand for agricultural commodities will put more pressure on limited phosphate and potash supplies and strengthen fertilizer prices in 2024, Mosaic CEO Joc O’Rourke said Wednesday.
Fertilizer prices may yet experience more volatility in Europe and South America, but the situation has mostly stabilized in the U.S., where fall applications will be relatively normal, says Ken Seitz, president and CEO of Nutrien, a major producer of potash, nitrogen and phosphate products.
In this opinion piece, Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and Corey Rosenbusch of the Fertilizer Institute discuss the need to designate phosphate and potash as critical minerals.
Prices for fertilizer products have been dropping for months from highs last year after many producers cut down on applications, but major manufacturers such as Mosaic and Nutrien see farmer demand rising amid bullish fundamentals.
