On May 28, the Federal Trade Commission announced an ill-considered investigation into fertilizer pricing in light of rising farming and food costs. This inquiry is unwise, not because people are facing food affordability challenges. Rather, the circumstances creating the drastic rise in critical farm supplies are primarily the result of a confluence of escalating geopolitical conflicts restricting the development and delivery of inputs for fertilizer and food production.

The Middle Eastern conflict that accelerated this challenge in February has given the public an instructive lesson in what transpires when global supply chains are disrupted.