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USDA makes additional investments in fertilizer expansion

The USDA’s Fertilizer Production Expansion Program is awarding $116 million in grants to eight new projects.

Michigan Rural Development Deputy State Director Valarie Handy tells Brownfield nearly 70 percent of this week’s funding announcement has been allocated to the Michigan Potash Company.

“We’re helping them to be able to expand the manufacturing processing that’s going on there in that area and it’s expected to yield over 400,000 tons per year of high-grade potash,” she explains.

The $80 million grant will support the construction of the $1.2 billion plant which has been in the planning stages since 2011 in northern Michigan.

Additional grants were also awarded to efforts in California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.

The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program has invested $517 million in 76 fertilizer production facilities to expand access to domestic fertilizer options for American farmers in 34 states and Puerto Rico.