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Hawley demands transparency, DOJ probe into soaring fertilizer prices

A U.S. Senator from Missouri says he’s expecting a response soon from fertilizer companies and the U.S. Attorney General as to whether there’s been price gouging or market manipulation during the Iran conflict.

Josh Hawley tells Brownfield “I want to know why it is fertilizer prices are just skyrocketing, doubling or tripling from where they were in recent months. I realize the Strait of Hormuz is closed, but listen, you can’t tell me that justifies the massive increase in fertilizer prices.”

Hawley, a former state attorney general and member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, says he wants more transparency about fertilizer price changes, inventory levels and pricing strategies by the end of March. If there are unfair actions, Hawley says he will investigate.

“I certainly plan to do that, and the U.S. Department of Justice has the ability to prosecute and I hope they’ll do that. I mean, if indeed this is price gouging, I hope the DOJ will go after them,” says Hawley. “For that matter, I hope the state attorneys general will go after these companies.”

Hawley says investigations aren’t quick, but “it is always worth going after bad behavior, no matter how long it takes. It pays huge dividends in the long-term. It deters that from going forward into the future. But for farmers right now, this is why we need investigatory action right now.”

He says higher fertilizer prices are expected to make the upcoming growing season more challenging for crop farmers.