Senate Majority Leader John Thune is leading a bipartisan bill to give farmers greater transparency on fertilizer prices as ag producers face soaring costs.
The introduction of the Fertilizer Transparency Act of 2026 follows a recent surge in prices as key global supply chains are disrupted from the U.S. war with Iran. Farmers were already dealing with elevated fertilizer prices before the Middle East conflict as well as years of wild price swings.
“South Dakota’s producers have been facing some pretty fierce economic headwinds over the past few years,” said Thune, R-S.D. “Higher prices for fertilizer – and the uncertainty surrounding costs – have only strained their budgets even further. This legislation would empower producers with better information about fertilizer pricing so they can make cost-effective choices when it comes to purchasing key inputs for their crops.”
The bill would require the Department of Agriculture to collect and publish data on fertilizer prices from manufacturers on a weekly basis, according to a statement released late Thursday from Thune’s office. USDA currently conducts a yearly voluntary survey on prices that producers pay for inputs.
Senators cosponsoring the measure include Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar, the Senate Agriculture Committee’s top Democrat.
Grassley already has a bill with Baldwin that would require USDA to study competition and trends in the fertilizer market and their subsequent impacts on price. Grassley has said he would like the legislation to be included in a new farm bill.
The latest fertilizer legislation is the latest nod from Washington to the plight of crop farmers dealing with higher production costs after three straight years of lower income. States including Iowa, Arkansas and Nebraska saw a spike in farm bankruptcies in 2025 versus the prior year.
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