US Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins said she is looking "at every potential avenue" to keep fertilizer costs down ahead of the spring season in response to surging nitrogen costs resulting from the war in the Middle East.
"We are very close to having an announcement on some solutions," Rollins said. "Events around the world are impacting our farmers, but as the president has said: we expect that to resolve itself pretty quickly."
Prices of nitrogen fertilizers such as urea, urea ammonium nitrate and ammonia have soared over the past two weeks following the outbreak of the war between the US-Israel and Iran.
Urea prices at the New Orleans port have jumped nearly $155/st from pre-war levels. Prices continue to climb quickly, with first-half April barges rising from $585/st fob on 6 March to $645/st fob on Friday.
Rollins added that most growers have already booked their fertilizer needs for this year and about 25pc have not. Nitrogen buying was pushed to later in the season as farmers and distributors weighed price uncertainty and weak corn margins, a delay that left some buyers exposed when prices climbed after the conflict.
Rollins did not outline any specific policy measures under consideration but said she is working with lawmakers to secure additional funding for farmers. The USDA rolled out its latest farm-aid package in December 2025, with payments beginning to be issued at the end of February this year.
The White House has demonstrated an ability to shift course on energy matters, recently floating options it had previously dismissed, including a potential crude export ban and a release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Even if the US-Iran conflict concludes, impacts to supply will likely linger through the rest of the fertilizer year, distributors have said. Traders Friday said they were also doubtful and left confused as to what US president Donald Trump's administration could do to bring down fertilizer prices.
