US farmers strained as fertiliser costs surge on war

On Andy Corriher's farm in North Carolina, planting and preparations are underway for his corn and soybean crops — but fertiliser costs have surged on war in the Middle East, and orders 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," 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 President Donald Trump, who won 78 per cent of the 2024 vote in farming-dependent counties, said news service Investigate Midwest. Trump blamed "price gouging from the fertilizer monopoly" on Saturday, vowing: "American Farmers, we have your back!"

But spring planting is already ongoing, with Corriher loading bags of dry fertiliser onto a tractor, hauling them to his fields. "I've ordered several loads of liquid nitrogen a few weeks ago, and they're still saying they're not sure when it'll be delivered," Corriher said. Since the war, Corriher estimates that the nitrogen fertilizer he uses rose by at least 40 per cent in price. The cost of urea — a common nitrogen-based fertiliser — had jumped by around 50 per cent at the port of New Orleans. Corriher has reduced usage by a third, a decision he worries might hurt his yields.

Russell Hedrick, who farms up to 1,000 acres including corn and soybeans 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 fertilizers 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 percent of American farmers had bought fertiliser for the spring planting season before the conflict. But that's cold comfort to those who lacked funds and capacity to do so.

Those remarks were "a gut shot," said Marshville-based farmer Derrick Austin. Austin, 55, 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 ton so I could at least fertilize my wheat crop," he said. "It was devastating."

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

Usually, farmers can see that coming, Hedrick said.

"This year, we just kind of got blindsided."

Corriher said he has been a supporter of Trump, but added of the war: "It didn't seem like we had really thought out all the consequences to the American people."

"I feel like these things were kind of overlooked as part of collateral damage," he said.

The surge in gas and diesel prices have hit farmers and other American households: "Everybody seems to be suffering."

Asked if the war has changed perceptions of Trump, Austin said: "I'm starting to question some of his reasoning." But to him, the Trump administration "still beats some of the alternatives."