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Global unrest drives ag input uncertainty

Farmers in the U.S. and abroad are concerned global unrest will drive ag input costs higher.

Brazil Potash Corporation CEO Matt Simpson says one of the biggest risks for fertilizer is the concentration of supply in countries that are sanctioned or at war.

“You have roughly 50 percent of the world’s potash that’s produced between Russia, Belarus, and Israel, so it’s a bit of a scary thought that one day Vladimir Putin decides he wants to cut off the world’s supply of potash.”

He tells Brownfield Russia and Belarus alone account for about 42 percent of global potash production.

“So that to me is a pretty scary risk, and it does reinforce the importance that for key agricultural countries like Brazil (and) the United States, if you have the ability to produce (fertilizer) domestically you really should.”

Simpson says fertilizer markets are also vulnerable to the escalating U.S. tariff situation involving dozens of trading partners.