FTC Launches Formal Investigation Into Fertilizer Industry as Farmers Say They’re ‘Fed Up’

The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday it has formally launched a sweeping investigation into fertilizer pricing and market concentration, marking the most significant federal scrutiny of the fertilizer industry in years and giving farmers hope that long-running concerns over soaring input costs and limited competition may finally face legal examination.

Speaking before farmers gathered on a North Texas farm, FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson announced the commission had already initiated a “major industry-wide investigation” into fertilizer prices, citing USDA data showing fertilizer has delivered the largest increase in production costs for U.S. farmers since 2020.

“These continued price increases are not something our nation, much less our farmers, can continue to ignore,” Ferguson says.

For farmers attending the event, the announcement drew a standing ovation. After years of frustration, congressional testimony and criticism of the fertilizer industry, the FTC’s move marks the first formal federal investigation with subpoena power and the potential for antitrust enforcement if wrongdoing is uncovered.

“We’re highly encouraged,” South Dakota farmer Trent Kubik told Farm Journal following the announcement. “This is something we’ve looked forward to for a long time. We’ve heard a lot of talk from this administration, which has been nice because they’ve really looked into fertilizer and other anticompetitive issues in agriculture. But now we finally have some action.”

Kubik says Thursday’s announcement signals that the federal government is beginning to take farmer concerns seriously.

“We finally have an investigation announced today that can look into whether there’s antitrust behavior happening and whether something can finally be done about it,” he adds.

Farmers Say Fertilizer Prices No Longer Reflect Market Fundamentals

The FTC investigation centers on concerns surrounding fertilizer market concentration and pricing practices among major fertilizer manufacturers including Mosaic, Nutrien, CF Industries and Koch.

Farmers attending the event argued fertilizer prices have remained historically elevated long after the supply chain shocks of 2021 and 2022 eased, even as commodity prices and farm profitability declined.

According to organizers, fertilizer prices have risen more than 150% since 2020, while net farm income has fallen sharply from recent highs.

Kubik, a fourth-generation farmer from south-central South Dakota who grows corn, soybeans, small grains and cattle feed, said fertilizer costs have fundamentally changed the economics of farming over the last five years.

“We were paying $200 to $300 a ton for urea in 2020. That jumped to over $900 a ton in 2022 when corn prices were high. And at least back then, corn prices were also elevated, so there was somewhat of a relationship there,” he says.

But Kubik adds that relationship has since disappeared, heightening the scrutiny of the fertilizer industry and pricing.

“Now we’re still sitting at $700 to $800 fertilizer, and the price of corn has not gone up,” he says. “There’s no correlation anymore. That’s what’s leaving us with very few answers and very little control in the situation.”

Kubik adds the persistence of high fertilizer prices has forced many farmers to rethink purchasing decisions and cash flow strategies.

“I held off buying a lot of fertilizer this year because, at the time, it just did not make economic sense to buy at those levels,” Kubik explains. “I kept saying the math isn’t working out. Eventually it’s going to come down. But it just doesn’t.”

‘Fed Up’ Farmers Push Back Against Industry Concentration

The event itself carried a clear message for both regulators and fertilizer manufacturers. Behind the speakers hung a large sign reading: “Fed Up: Fertilizer Cartel Profits off Farmers’ Backs and Your Grocery Bill.” While the event was in Texas, it drew farmers from 18 states to attend, representing multiple commodities.

Kubik says no matter what crop you grow, the frustration over fertilizer has been building for years.

“The backdrop today said ‘Fed Up,’ and that’s exactly what we are,” he says. “We can understand maybe one year or two years of a price hike because of supply constraints or production issues. But this has gone on multiple years now, and it just doesn’t make sense anymore.”

Farmers also point to recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as an example of how global events continue to rapidly inflate fertilizer prices, even when domestic inventories appear unaffected.

“They use issues like the Strait of Hormuz closing to jump up fertilizer that’s already here in this country. It didn’t come through the Strait of Hormuz. But they use that excuse to jump the price. There’s just so little control,” Kubik says.

The South Dakota farmer says he and other farmers hope the FTC investigation sends a strong message to fertilizer companies that their business practices are finally being scrutinized.

“I hope this is kind of a shot across the bow to tell them we don’t like the way they operate and the way they treat us as customers,” Kubik adds. “Their increased profits again and again and again are on our backs while our income is not in the green — it’s in the red.”

Farmers Want Competition, Not Government-Controlled Prices

While many farmers attending the event called for aggressive federal oversight, Kubik emphasizes producers are not asking the government to dictate fertilizer prices. Instead, he says farmers’ wants are simple: to get back to transparent and competitive markets.

“We obviously don’t want the federal government dictating our prices or anything like that, but the federal government does have a role to play here to make sure our markets are free and fair,” he says.

Kubik adds market concentration within the fertilizer industry has left farmers with few alternatives when prices rise.

“There are so few fertilizer manufacturers, which means there’s just not a lot of competition,” he says. “Right now it kind of emulates what it used to be like before we formed this country where we were under king control. Now we’re under the king control of monopolies.”

Kubik says farmers believe increasing competition could help stabilize prices over time, and he points specifically to phosphate imports, where he argues trade barriers are limiting supply options.

“There’s a countervailing duty on imported phosphate right now,” Kubik says. “When that duty went on back in 2021, my phosphorus fertilizer went up and really hasn’t come back down to sustainable levels.”

Kubik also says the U.S. has the resources necessary to expand domestic nitrogen production if permitting and regulatory hurdles were eased.

“We have cheap natural gas here. We can make nitrogen here,” he points out. “We just need to reduce the roadblocks to put new plants in and expedite permitting so we can entice more competition into this market.”

Farmers From 18 States Gathered in Texas

The event brought together farmers and commodity leaders from across the country, including producers representing corn, soybeans, cotton, rice and wheat.

“This wasn’t just corn growers. There were rice farmers, cotton farmers, soybean farmers, wheat farmers. This affects all of us equally,” Kubik says.

The South Dakota farmer credited Texas Corn and other state commodity organizations for helping bring national attention to the issue.

“Texas Corn has done a ton of work on this,” he says on why it was important to host the event in Texas. “But this issue is widespread, and we wanted to make that known.”

In addition to launching the investigation, the FTC emphasized Thursday that it would protect the confidentiality of anyone participating in the inquiry and encouraged individuals with relevant information to come forward.

“We appreciate the opportunity to share the on-the-ground reality farmers are experiencing,” says Lance Lillibridge, Iowa farmer and former president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association. “We’re grateful Chairman Ferguson and the FTC came to Texas, listened to our farmers and took action. Now we need that investigation to follow the evidence wherever it leads.”

Thursday’s announcement does not immediately lower fertilizer bills heading into another difficult farm economy. But after years of sounding alarms about fertilizer costs, Kubik says many farmers left Texas feeling like progress had finally been made.

“We wish this would have happened five years ago before this issue became really challenging, but we’re really glad it’s happening now,” Kubik says.

Administration Targets Both Long-Term Supply and Immediate Fertilizer Movement

The FTC investigation also comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to address fertilizer affordability through both long-term production expansion and short-term supply chain relief.

Last week, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiled a sweeping federal strategy aimed at rebuilding domestic fertilizer production and reducing America’s dependence on foreign suppliers. The effort includes accelerating fertilizer manufacturing projects, streamlining permitting, expanding supply chains and coordinating policy across multiple federal agencies.

The initiative involves USDA, the Department of Energy, EPA, Department of Commerce, Treasury Department, State Department and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in what administration officials described as an “all-of-government” approach to fertilizer policy.

Among the key announcements was the fast-tracking of permits for the $3.7 billion Blue Point ammonia facility in Louisiana, which could become the world’s largest ammonia plant by 2029 if completed as planned.

The administration also announced plans to revive and restructure USDA’s Fertilizer Production Expansion Program, helping stalled fertilizer projects move forward while encouraging additional domestic nitrogen and phosphate production capacity.

Then this week, the administration announced additional emergency steps aimed at easing fertilizer transportation bottlenecks during the busy application season.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Rollins announced a new 90-day waiver suspending hours-of-service limits and electronic logging device requirements for fertilizer transport in 35 states.

Speaking at a Pennsylvania farm, Rollins said President Trump has activated his entire Cabinet to address both the short- and long-term availability and affordability of fertilizer.

According to USDA, more than 50% of all fertilizer tonnage moves by truck, while every ton of fertilizer transported in the U.S. travels by truck at some point in the supply chain.