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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Saturday, May 04, 2024
The fertilizer industry and a raft of farm groups are backing legislation that would add phosphate and potash to the list of minerals considered “critical” to the national security of the United States, arguing that too much of the world’s reserves of the vital crop inputs is located outside the country and vulnerable to supply shocks.
The federal government could help spur the adoption of precision agriculture practices in a number of ways, including increased research funding and assistance to farmers for enhancing data analysis, the Government Accountability Office says.
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack used his speech at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention to roll out more than $200 million in loans and grants through programs meant to bolster American production of fertilizer and renewable energy.
Brazil, a country that produces 42% of the world’s soybeans and 12% of its corn, is intrinsic to global food production, but all of that hinges on the South American nation’s ability to bring in billions of dollars’ worth of fertilizer from thousands of miles away. It’s a situation that Matt Simpson, CEO of the company Brazil Potash, said he wants to help change.
Strong global demand for agricultural commodities will put more pressure on limited phosphate and potash supplies and strengthen fertilizer prices in 2024, Mosaic CEO Joc O’Rourke said Wednesday.
The Commerce Department is sharply cutting its duty on Moroccan phosphate fertilizer products to just 2.12%, spurring optimism that imports will resume and provide American farmers with more supply options and better prices.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is following the lead of some of the nation's most influential farm groups, which banded together earlier this month to ask the Commerce Department to reduce or eliminate the duty on key imports of phosphate fertilizers from Morocco.
Dozens of national and state agricultural groups are beseeching the Biden administration to consider high fertilizer costs that are weighing down farmers as the International Trade Commission and Commerce Department weigh their options on continuing to levy duties on imports of Moroccan phosphate products.
