‘Blindsided’: US farmers strained as fertiliser costs surge on war

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CHINA GROVE, United States – On Mr Andy Corriher’s farm in North Carolina, planting and preparations are under way for his corn and soya bean crops – but fertiliser costs have surged on war in the Middle East, and orders that he placed weeks ago have yet to arrive.

The 47-year-old is among US farmers facing a double whammy of soaring fertiliser and diesel prices after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered Tehran’s blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for such shipments.

“This time of year is when the majority of fertiliser is put out in this country,” Mr Corriher told AFP.

“We got hit at the worst possible time, because we’re trying to buy fertiliser when it skyrockets and when the supply also gets cut.”

The cost hikes strike at a major support base for US President Donald Trump, who won 78 per cent of the 2024 vote in farming-dependent counties, said news service Investigate Midwest.

Mr Trump blamed “price gouging from the fertiliser monopoly” on April 11, vowing: “American farmers, we have your back.”

But spring planting is already ongoing, with Mr Corriher loading bags of dry fertiliser onto a tractor, hauling them to his fields.

“I ordered several loads of liquid nitrogen a few weeks ago, and they’re still saying they’re not sure when it’ll be delivered,” Mr Corriher said.

He estimates that the nitrogen fertiliser he uses has risen by at least 40 per cent in price since the war.

The cost of urea – a common nitrogen-based fertiliser – has jumped by around 50 per cent at the port of New Orleans.

Mr Corriher has reduced usage by a third, a decision he worries might hurt his yields.

‘Gut shot’

Mr Russell Hedrick, who farms up to 404ha, including corn and soya beans, around Hickory, North Carolina, said around 75 per cent of his fertiliser purchases were made after prices rocketed.

Like himself, many US farmers lack storage to stock up far ahead of planting, the 40-year-old told AFP, after blending fertilisers and nutrients to be sprayed on his fields.

He has cut fertiliser use to the “bare minimum”, with an option to add more later.

Even before the war, rising costs meant “farmers have essentially become like Breaking Bad chemists with fertiliser to get the most out of it”, he said.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said 80 per cent of American farmers had bought fertiliser for the spring planting season before the conflict. But that is cold comfort to those who lacked funds and capacity to do so.

Those remarks are “a gut shot”, said Marshville-based farmer Derrick Austin.

The 55-year-old called his supplier upon learning of the strait’s blockage, knowing that costs would jump.

“Thankfully, he let me buy three loads of nitrogen at the old price per tonne so I could at least fertilise my wheat crop,” he said. “It was devastating.”

Fertiliser supply has diminished before, like in 2021 when China restricted phosphate exports to prioritise domestic needs.

Usually, farmers can see that coming, Mr Hedrick said.

“This year, we just kind of got blindsided.”

‘Collateral damage’

Mr Corriher said he has been a supporter of Mr Trump, but added: “It didn’t seem like we had really thought out all the consequences (of the war) to the American people.”

He said: “I feel like these things were kind of overlooked as part of collateral damage.”

The surge in petrol and diesel prices has hit farmers and other American households. “Everybody seems to be suffering,” he said.

Asked if the war has changed perceptions of Mr Trump, Mr Austin said: “I’m starting to question some of his reasoning.”

But to him, the Trump administration “still beats some of the alternatives”.

Mr Hedrick said he has voted for Mr Trump thrice. “He’s human, like the rest of us. I think he makes good calls. I think he makes mistakes.”

He said that if the conflict’s resolution brings “long-term peace” and a reopened Strait of Hormuz, “that’s all I can hope for”.

The US agriculture economy has “been in a recession for the last couple of years”, said Professor Chad Hart of Iowa State University.

Net farm income has declined, while business costs remain high.

Although margins are squeezed in 2026, the hit may be less than anticipated as many farmers managed to apply fertiliser in the autumn of 2025 or earlier in the spring of 2026.

But the 2027 crop will be “a big concern” if fighting persists, Prof Hart said. AFP