Today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it has launched an investigation into the fertilizer industry’s market concentration and pricing practices in the U.S. In March, Farm Action urged the Trump administration to address the highly concentrated fertilizer market to prevent another pricing crisis from hitting farmers during planting season.
In response to today’s announcement, Farm Action issued the following statement, which can be attributed to Farm Action President Angela Huffman:
“Farm Action welcomes the FTC’s investigation into fertilizer market concentration and pricing practices. Farmers have been warning for years that a handful of dominant fertilizer corporations can use global supply shocks as cover to raise prices far beyond their own costs. Today’s announcement is an important step toward accountability. Now, the FTC must move quickly and transparently to determine whether dominant fertilizer companies are abusing their market power, and to make sure farmers are not forced to pay the price for corporate concentration and geopolitical instability.”
As Farm Action’s Agriculture Consolidation Data Hub shows, in North America, four companies control about 84% of nitrogen production, while just two dominate roughly 86% of phosphate and 89% of potash. Farm Action has long warned that this level of concentration leaves farmers vulnerable to severe price spikes during global disruptions.
As Farm Action explained in its letter to the Trump administration earlier this year, the risk is not hypothetical—dominant fertilizer companies used global supply shocks to justify dramatic price increases just a few years ago. The farmer-led organization previously urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate fertilizer price spikes preceding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Farm Action’s analysis at that time showed that fertilizer prices rose more than 60% in 2021 and averaged 132% higher in 2022 than in 2020.
In March, the DOJ announced it’s investigating the fertilizer industry for possible price-fixing.
Media Contact: Emma Nicolas, [email protected], 202-450-0094
