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Fertilizer industry celebrates addition of phosphate and potash to final Critical Minerals List 

The Department of the Interior has added phosphate and potash to the official Critical Minerals List and the vice president of government affairs at The Fertilizer Institute says it’s good news for America’s farmers.

Ed Thomas says it’s concerning the U.S. is so reliant on foreign entities like China and Russia for its current fertilizer supply.

“Gaining this designation gives us a head start on trying to get some of those policies across the finish line,” he says. “We can start rolling out some of these policies that will help increase domestic fertilizer supply and ease the burden of this tremendous investment.”

He tells Brownfield the organization has developed an eight-step plan to continue to advance the domestic fertilizer industry.

“We’ve had supply chain shock after supply chain shock and demand keeps going up,” he says. “We’ve got mines with existing reserves, but we can’t get to them. We want to be prepared for the future, and this is the next step for preparing for the long term, but it is going to take time.”

Potash and phosphate are critical nutrients in crop production.

Potash was originally included in the 2018 list, but phosphate and potash were taken off in 2022. Potash was added back to the Critical Minerals List in September.

AUDIO: Ed Thomas, The Fertilizer Institute