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Midwest senators introduce fertilizer bills to boost transparency, expand U.S. production

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators from the Midwest have recently introduced legislation addressing the rising cost of fertilizer and market consolidation.

The Fertilizer Transparency Act, sponsored by U.S. Senators John Thune from South Dakota and Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, creates a mandatory price reporting system for fertilizer markets, with a goal to improve price transparency. The bill requires USDA to produce a report on the fertilizer industry looking at price trends and cost drivers.

The Homegrown Fertilizer Act, sponsored by U.S. Senators Roger Marshall from Kansas and Klobuchar from Minnesota, would establish USDA grants and loans to expand domestic fertilizer production and storage capacity to reduce reliance on global supply chains.

High input costs and limited market transparency have frustrated U.S. farmers for a long time, and the recent conflict with Iran has made the situation more intense, increasing fuel and fertilizer costs and disrupting global supply chains.