Nation Troubled Pastures
AG R IC U LT U R E
Farmers’ Problems Grow as Fertilizer Price Soars Those on the land are turning back to traditional ways, or finding alternative methods to boost land productivity
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26 I N S I G H T November 19 – 25, 2021
NITED STATES agricul-
tural suppliers are sounding the alarm over the rising cost of fertilizers, which threatens to lower crop yields and worsen strains on global food supplies. “It’s put a stranglehold on us,” said John Ortiz, sales manager at BigYield.us in Garden City, Missouri, an organization focused on creating strategies that increase the size and quality of crops using liquid-nitrogen-based fertilizers. “You’re always going to need seed. You’re always going to need fertilizer” to grow crops on a large scale, Ortiz told Insight. “People need to eat.” Fertilizers have been in short supply in recent months due to the high cost of natural gas, a main component of their production. Prices have nearly tripled in the past year alone, Ortiz said. In 2020, it cost about $48 to treat an acre of top soil with fertilizer. In 2021, it
cost around $120 per acre—an increase of $72, Ortiz said. As a result, farmers are having to consider scaling back on fertilizer applications and seeking alternative methods to energize precious cover soil.
Preparing for Worse Shortages “We’re preparing,” Ortiz said, but if the fertilizer “is not there, it’s not there. If you run out, you run out. How do you get more?” Shipping logistics and the rising cost of transportation have also become an issue of concern, he said. “It’s the trickle-down effect,” Ortiz said, adding that farmers are “very nervous.” “It’s one of these situations we’ve never been in before.” Ortiz said it’s not just the higher price of fertilizer that has farmers worried, but the rising cost of insecticides and herbicides as well. “Instead of spraying the ground,” in many cases, “they’re going back to working the ground,” using traditional or alternative growing methods. “A lot of
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES, ANDREW BURTON/GETTY IMAGES, SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK
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By Allan Stein
