Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced steps the Trump administration is taking to reshore fertilizer production over the next several years, saying she expects domestic nitrogen production to increase by over 30%.
The price of fertilizer has taken a hit during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital fertilizer shipping point. Rollins outlined moves the administration has made to reduce fertilizer costs in the short term, while also announcing plans to ensure the onshoring of more fertilizer producers in the long term.
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“We believe that in short order, in the next year to two years, we could expand, back of napkin, our domestic nitrogen production by more than 30%, just in a short period of time, our domestic phosphate production by over 200%, and our domestic potash production by over 100%,” Rollins said.
The numbers Rollins mentioned would be a major boon to domestic production and could have a major effect on domestic prices in the long term, cutting costs for American farmers. The Persian Gulf has become a major hub for fertilizer production and is home to three of the top 10 global urea exporters, the world’s most commonly used nitrogen-based fertilizer.
If the United States could onshore nitrogen, phosphate, and potash production and no longer rely on exports from the Persian Gulf, it could have a stabilizing impact on fertilizer prices for farmers in the U.S.
Rollins pointed to the Department of Agriculture‘s efforts to build out the $900 million Fertilizer Production Expansion Program, created by former President Joe Biden’s USDA. The program provides between $1 million and $100 million grants to fertilizer businesses to help them increase U.S. production.
“The last administration saw only a handful of the 120 projects then awarded completed, and we are now working around the clock with a lot of these, dozens of these projects to bring them to fruition,” Rollins said. “For example, Natural Fertilizer Products in Ames, Iowa, is near the finish line and will be online and operational this summer, increasing their production by 36,000 tons annually.”
Rollins also pointed to two separate funding opportunities from the Departments of Commerce and Energy that could help companies bring fertilizer production to the U.S. Rollins said that fertilizer projects that invest over $1 billion in American infrastructure could be eligible for the Commerce Department’s Investment Accelerator program, which helps speed up U.S. infrastructure projects. The DOE, Rollins said, is helping finance critical mineral projects.
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She also pointed to several short-term measures the Trump administration has taken to try to ease fertilizer price spikes during the Iran war, including locking in fertilizer prices last fall, suspending the Jones Act, and removing fertilizer import restrictions on Venezuela.
In late April, prices of six different fertilizers moved higher, with the price of nitrogen-based urea climbing 27% from last month, according to DTN.
