fertilizer prices – With 70% of American farmers unable to afford enough fertilizer and much of global nitrogen moving through the Strait of Hormuz, the war on Iran has left farmers cutting acreage, weighing bankruptcy, and watching fertilizer producers profit as prices climb.
It’s planting season in Connecticut, and Bill Collins is preparing to spread fertilizer across his crop—only to cut production by 20% this year because fertilizer costs have surged.
The pressure isn’t confined to one farm or one state.. For many farmers nationwide. buying enough fertilizer to plant all their crops has become out of reach: 70 percent can’t afford sufficient supplies.. The stakes are high because a large share of the world’s nitrogen fertilizer. widely used in agriculture. has to move through the Strait of Hormuz.. Under the war on Iran described here, the waterway is essentially still closed to most ships.
The disruption has been framed as a slow-moving food crisis: when fertilizer can’t be purchased. farmers plant less. and months later that shows up as scarcer. pricier food.. United Nations estimates cited here say 45 million people worldwide could go hungry due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
In Washington, the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held a hearing Tuesday featuring a familiar security slogan.. Arkansas Republican Sen.. John Boozman told the room that “food security is national security.” Yet the hearing offered few direct governmental solutions to the fertilizer shortage—particularly not ending the war.
Farmers described the squeeze in practical terms.. Trent Kubik. president of the South Dakota Corn Grower’s Association. said he expected higher-than-normal costs because fertilizer would be purchased closer to peak demand.. With the war on Iran. he said the cost is “nearly doubling.” He said the result is a hard season. with losses that pile up before the season can even fully begin.
That timeline is colliding with financial fallout. In the first quarter of 2026, 86 American farms have filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy. At the same time, fertilizer producers’ revenues are continuing to increase.
The mismatch has fueled anger and bargaining among farmers who say they’re being pulled into crisis whenever global supply chains are strained.. One farmer captured that sense of being sidelined by the business end of the supply chain: “During the last 75 days. a lot of money was being made–but it wasn’t by farmers.”
A key part of the pressure is rising prices in the nitrogen market.. Four major manufacturers control nearly the entire US fertilizer market. and nitrogen fertilizer prices have increased 28 percent since the war on Iran began in February. according to University of Illinois data cited here.. Fertilizer prices aren’t just high—they change quickly, with farmers scrambling as rates shift by the minute.
Goswami of the Union of Concerned Scientists, who studies agricultural policy, said the fertilizer industry is heavily consolidated and that, while companies have made billions in profits over the years, farmers’ profit margins have dropped drastically because of the higher cost of fertilizer.
The disruption is also changing what gets planted. Farmers are switching to less fertilizer-thirsty crops, and the impact is visible in acreage: about 4 million acres of corn in the US have been switched over to soybean this season in an effort to compensate for less fertilizer availability.
The pattern is clear in how the pressure moves: the Hormuz disruption constrains fertilizer access, that forces farmers to plant less or switch crops, and the result shows up later as food becomes scarcer and more expensive—while the financial upswing remains with fertilizer producers.
Beyond fertilizer, the costs feeding into farm decisions are rising too.. Diesel costs are up, and at Tuesday’s hearing, Sen.. Raphael Warnock said “Between the war in Iran. spiking fuel and fertilizer prices. and illegal trade wars. increasing the cost of equipment. and limiting market access. it’s no wonder that farmers in Georgia I talked to say that they can’t take much more.” He added: “Fertilizer prices are increasing.. Diesel costs have increased by over $2 a gallon compared to this time last year and there’s no end in sight.. At this point, the best-case scenario for farmers is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Warnock also pointed out that the Strait of Hormuz was open before the war started.
The financial and agricultural consequences may stretch well beyond one season. Experts mentioned here suggest that even if the war on Iran ends tomorrow, high fertilizer prices could persist through at least 2027. Goswami said the fertilizer shock is likely to impact wheat in particular.
That concern is amplified by conditions earlier this spring—bad weather—and an unrelenting drought in the plains states. described here as contributing to what’s being called the worst year for wheat yields in decades.. Most wheat grown in the US. unlike corn or soy. is destined for consumption by humans. raising the likelihood that the fertilizer-driven price shock could arrive later in the bread aisle.
For now, farmers are trying to manage the season they can still plant while waiting for relief that hasn’t materialized in the hearing room—other than the recurring argument that reopening the Strait of Hormuz would be the “best-case scenario” for them.
fertilizer prices Strait of Hormuz war on Iran American farmers nitrogen fertilizer Chapter 12 bankruptcy corn to soy conversion wheat yields diesel costs Agriculture Committee hearing