China Grove (United States) (AFP) – On Andy Corriher’s farm in North Carolina, planting and preparations are underway for his corn and soybean crops. However, fertilizer costs have surged due to the war in the Middle East, and the orders he placed weeks ago have yet to arrive. The 47-year-old is among US farmers facing a double whammy of soaring fertilizer and diesel prices after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered Tehran’s blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for such shipments.
“This time of year is when the majority of fertilizer is put out in this country,” Corriher told AFP. “We got hit at the worst possible time, because we’re trying to buy fertilizer when it skyrockets and when the supply also gets cut.” The cost hikes strike at a major support base for President Donald Trump, who won 78 percent of the 2024 vote in farming-dependent counties, according to news service Investigate Midwest. Trump blamed “price gouging from the fertilizer monopoly” on Saturday, vowing: “American Farmers, we have your back!”
But spring planting is already ongoing, with Corriher loading bags of dry fertilizer onto a tractor, hauling them to his fields. “I’ve ordered several loads of liquid nitrogen a few weeks ago, and they’re still saying they’re not sure when it’ll be delivered,” Corriher said. Since the war, Corriher estimates that the nitrogen fertilizer he uses rose by at least 40 percent in price. The cost of urea—a common nitrogen-based fertilizer—had jumped by around 50 percent at the port of New Orleans. Corriher has reduced his usage by a third, a decision he worries might hurt his yields.
Russell Hedrick, who farms up to 1,000 acres including corn and soybeans around Hickory, North Carolina, said around 75 percent of his fertilizer purchases were made after prices rocketed. Like himself, many US farmers lack storage to stock up far ahead of planting. The 40-year-old told AFP that he has cut fertilizer use to the “bare minimum,” with an option to add more later. Even before the war, rising costs meant “farmers have essentially become like Breaking Bad chemists with fertilizer, to get the most out of it,” he said.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins stated that 80 percent of American farmers had bought fertilizer for the spring planting season before the conflict. But that’s cold comfort to those who lacked funds and capacity to do so. Those remarks were “a gut shot,” said Marshville-based farmer Derrick Austin. Austin, 55, called his supplier upon learning of the strait’s blockage, knowing that costs would jump. “Thankfully, he let me buy three loads of nitrogen at the old price per ton so I could at least fertilize my wheat crop,” he said. “It was devastating.”
Fertilizer supply has diminished before, as seen in 2021 when China restricted phosphate exports to prioritize domestic needs. Usually, farmers can see that coming, but Hedrick noted, “This year, we just kind of got blindsided.”
Corriher said he has been a supporter of Trump but added of the war: “It didn’t seem like we had really thought out all the consequences to the American people.” He expressed that these issues seemed to be “overlooked as part of collateral damage.” The surge in gas and diesel prices has hit farmers and other American households hard: “Everybody seems to be suffering.”
When asked if the war has changed perceptions of Trump, Austin answered, “I’m starting to question some of his reasoning.” However, to him, the Trump administration “still beats some of the alternatives.” Hedrick stated that he has voted for Trump thrice: “He’s human like the rest of us. I think he makes good calls, I think he makes mistakes.” He added that if the conflict’s resolution brings “long-term peace” and a reopened Strait of Hormuz, “that’s all I can hope for.”
The US agriculture economy has “been in a recession for the last couple of years,” according to Chad Hart, a professor at Iowa State University. Net farm income has declined while business costs remain high. Although margins are squeezed this year, the hit may be less than anticipated as many farmers managed to apply fertilizer last fall or earlier this spring. However, the 2027 crop would be “a big concern” if fighting persists, Hart said.
© 2024 AFP
