White House eyes intervention as Iran operation spikes fertilizer prices

The White House is looking at intervening to help farmers facing high fertilizer prices as a result of the U.S.-Israeli military operation in Iran.

“byRyan Mancini03/13/26 04:58 PM ET The White House is looking at intervening to help farmers facing high fertilizer prices as a result of the U”

The Hill

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said Friday the White House was looking at "every potential avenue to keep" these prices down and was having conversations with lawmakers to seek out "additional funds for our farmers."

The Hill

"With what’s happening in Iran, what that means for specifically nitrogen urea, which is one of the key components of fertilizer, our farmers are moving into planting season," she told reporters.

"So, the president is aware of these challenges and these issues. We are very close to having an announcement on some solutions on what that looks like."

Rollins noted that most farmers have purchased their fertilizer for the planting season, "but about 25 percent have not."

"Obviously, events around the world are impacting our farmers, but as the president has said, we expect that to resolve itself pretty quickly," Rollins said, adding that the administration is talking to U.S. farmers "all weekend, all day."

Rollins noted that everything "is on the table" in providing support for farmers.

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has led to a sharp surge in rising gas and oil prices, has caused a shortage of fertilizer just ahead of planting season.

Urea, the nitrogen fertilizer imported most by the U.S., previously cost between $460 to $480 per short ton the last week of February, before the conflict started on Feb. 28.

The Hill

That high-low spread rose to $520 to $620 the first week of March, according to Successful Farming.

Over one-third of globally traded fertilizer passes through the strait, disrupting shipments meant to go to farmers just ahead of planting in the spring, The Washington Times reported.

The American Farm Bureau Federation first took issue with the drop in supply and rising costs.

On March 4, the bureau described "reports of companies freezing fertilizer sales at a critical time with planting season coming into full swing," Successful Farming reported.

Luke Lindberg, USDA’s undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, told Politico on Tuesday that the Trump administration was tracking price increases.

“byRyan Mancini03/13/26 04:58 PM ET The White House is looking at intervening to help farmers facing high fertilizer prices as a result of the U”

The Hill

He echoed Rollins and said the White House would soon make an announcement on how it will help farmers.

The undersecretary also warned that "any company or any part of the fertilizer supply chain who tries to use this opportunity to price-gouge American farmers and ranchers will not be tolerated."

The response over rising gas prices differs from the response over fertilizer prices.

President Trump previously said he was not concerned with rising prices, saying on Thursday that when gas prices rise, "we make a lot of money."

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Christopher Knittel previously told The Hill that the high prices could produce a slowdown in economic activity, resulting in a potential downturn.

Knittel added that if the U.S.-Iran conflict "ends tomorrow, then I think we’ll be in fine shape. But if this continues, for a month, two months or even longer, then I think we’re certainly above the 50 percent chance of a recession."

The Hill