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Kansas Senator pushes fertilizer relief package to lower input costs

Kansas Senator Roger Marshall says a series of bills being considered in the U.S Senate could deliver much-needed relief from high fertilizer prices.

He says the latest measure removes countervailing duties on phosphate imports from Morocco. “It would lower the cost of phosphate fertilizer by over 20 percent. That’s $150 a ton. That’s really money that goes back to the Kansas farmer.”

The Lowering Input Costs for American Farmers Act would also end the 2021 countervailing duty order on imports and restore access to competitively prices phosphate fertilizer for producers. The bill is co-sponsored by Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Joni Ernst (R-IA).

During remarks at a recent USDA press conference, he said there is strong bipartisan support for other bills that address rising prices. “They work together to lower to lower farmers’ fertilizer costs by requiring price transparency and market research, promoting domestic production and competition and reducing regulatory barriers. They all create pathways for one of my favorite areas for biostimulats that lower costs for alternatives.”

The package includes the Homegrown Fertilizer Act, the Plant Biostimulant Act and ensuring potash and phosphate are on the U.S. Critical Minerals List. All bills have companion legislation in the U.S. House, but their path forward is unclear.

The legislation is supported by several ag groups including the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association and American Farm Bureau.