Fertilizer Industry Squeezes Farmers and Grocery Bills | Opinion

It’s getting harder to make the math work when you’re a farmer staring down fertilizer prices. This spring, I paid $400 a ton for the same product that cost roughly $200 a ton just a few years ago — and no one in the supply chain has given me a straight answer about why. Those elevated costs are a big reason grocery prices keep rising, and why so many family farms are struggling to stay afloat.

I recently represented Kansas Corn at a meeting where the Federal Trade Commission announced a sweeping, industrywide investigation into fertilizer pricing. Standing on a Texas farm alongside farmers from 18 states, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said the government can no longer ignore what’s unfolding in the fertilizer market. We were there fighting for our farms, and he heard us loud and clear.

Bringing transparency, trade relief and real competition to the fertilizer industry is non-negotiable for the survival of family farms. Farmers are fed up, and the FTC’s action builds momentum behind a growing push to confront farm costs head-on. Here’s why the frustration is justified.

Fertilizer prices have surged more than 150% since 2020, far outpacing overall inflation. Urea, a key nitrogen product, sold for $225 a ton in 2020 — then blew past $900 in 2022 and never came back down. Today, it’s still double what it was five years ago. Farmers have endured two price spikes in four years, both following the same script: a supply disruption justifies a surge, prices skyrocket, and then they never fully retreat.

Meanwhile, the companies setting those prices are doing just fine. A handful of multinational corporations dominate what American farmers pay for fertilizer. Four of the largest players returned more than $20 billion to shareholders over the last five years. Their revenue and gross profit growth have easily outpaced any increase in their own supply costs. Over that same period, farm income fell by $30 billion, farm bankruptcies doubled, and we’ve seen a record number of farmer suicides. Since 2018, more than 158,000 U.S. farms have disappeared — 15,000 of them in 2025 alone.

Those rising input costs flow straight to the checkout lane. Grocery prices are up more than 24% since 2020, and food costs now are rising faster than core inflation. The USDA projects food prices will climb an additional 3.4% this year. Wolfe Research estimates that the latest fertilizer surge alone will add two more percentage points on top of that. The inflated prices families pay at the store start with the inflated prices farmers are forced to pay each spring.

This is exactly the right fight for the FTC. The commission has clear authority over unfair methods of competition and deceptive practices — things farmers deal with every day, like dealer-level pricing with no transparency, identical quotes from supposed competitors, and manufacturers undercutting the very retailers who buy from them. The administration has a chance to shine a light on the handful of companies with an outsized grip on a critical link in America’s food supply chain.

Chairman Ferguson took a real step, underscoring the commission’s commitment to protecting the confidentiality of anyone who comes forward. If you’re a farmer, a retailer, or anyone who has seen something in the fertilizer market that didn’t add up, the FTC wants to hear from you.

Farmers are fed up. We’re not going away, and we’ll be watching — because the rising costs squeezing our families are squeezing yours, too.

Brett Grauerholz is the vice president of the Kansas Corn Growers Association.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Fertilizer industry is squeezing farmers and grocery bills | Opinion