The closure of the strait of Hormuz, a key fertilizer production and transportation route, has squeezed US farmers as prices jump, according to a report by The Guardian. Rodney Bushmeyer, a 69-year-old farmer from Illinois, has been farming for as long as he can remember, and his family-run Bushmeyer Farms has felt the impact of dramatically increased fertilizer prices over the past five or six years.
While Bushmeyer's fight with fertilizer costs started several years ago, many US farmers are seeing themselves squeezed even more as prices for agricultural nutrients have jumped in recent weeks. American farmers have become casualties in the US-Israel war against Iran, which closed the strait of Hormuz, cutting off a key fertilizer production and transportation route.
The Middle East is critical to global fertilizer trade, with 35% of global urea trade coming through the region, according to Chris Yearsley, CEO and head of nitrogen at Profercy, a global fertilizer pricing, analysis, and forecasting firm. The US imports about 25% of its total fertilizer use, including 18% of its nitrogen use, says the American Farm Bureau.
Fertilizer Prices and Farming Costs
Fertilizer prices have been elevated since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, and nitrogen values were already rising in late 2025, but prices have nearly doubled since the shipping channel closed. Benchmark New Orleans nitrogen prices were at $350 a short ton in late December and had risen to $470 in late February, just before the conflict, according to Yearsley.
Fertilizer is the most volatile and significant non-land cost for most farmers, and for corn, the US's biggest production crop, it can account for 20% of total production expenses, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Farmers have struggled with their costs being higher than the prices they are paid for harvest for at least three years, and the USDA had forecast 2026 would be another year of lowered profits, even before the spike in fertilizer prices.
Impact on Farmers and the Agricultural Industry
Lance Lillibridge, who farms about 1,250 acres of corn in east-central Iowa, says the fertilizer industry is probably the most concentrated industry in the entire world, and they are able to manipulate markets. He believes that continued price levels will prove unsustainable in the future, and lenders won't want to help farmers with credit.
Angela Guentzel, a sixth-generation farmer from Minnesota, purchased fertilizer this fall, before the recent price spike, and modern farming technology has also helped her farm be more precise and efficient with fertilizer application. However, if fertilizer prices remain high in the fall, that will only heighten the economic strain on farmers, she says.
Food Security and National Security
Guentzel says the crisis facing farmers poses problems that extend far beyond those who work the land, as food security is basically national security. Everything on the table starts with a farmer and seed in the ground, and fertilizer isn't really an optional thing, she adds.
It's unclear whether there is any relief in sight for farmers grappling with high fertilizer prices, and if fertilizer prices continue to increase, there could even be political implications, according to Brittany Martinez, a Republican strategist and the executive director of Principles First.
Future Prospects and Relief
For now, farmers are doing their best to contend with blistering economic headwinds brought by fertilizer prices and brutal commodities markets. Bushmeyer is remaining hopeful, saying that his dad used to say, we're at the mercy of the weather and the government, and we can't control either, but when you grow up in this business, you just take whatever comes and you raise the best crop you can and rest is up to God and mother nature.
As the situation continues to unfold, it remains to be seen how the US government will address the issue of high fertilizer prices and its impact on the agricultural industry, and whether relief will come in time to save the upcoming growing season.
