Meet a third-generation Tennessee farmer who has to pay an extra $100,000 for fertilizer due to the Iran War

(SeaPRwire) –   Tennessee farmer Todd Littleton anticipates shelling out $100,000 extra for fertilizer this growing season, a 40% jump from his prior year’s total bill due to the ongoing conflict in Iran — and he is working frantically to cover this added expense.

“The problem is, we’re already stretched thin financially going into this situation,” explained Littleton, a third-generation farmer from Gibson County in the northwest corner of the state. “We’ve seen a pair of record losses over the last two years, so everyone’s already scrambling to make ends meet, and then for input costs to rise yet again — this really could not have landed at a worse time.”

Littleton, who cultivates corn, soybeans, and wheat, is one of thousands of farmers nationwide who will pay significantly more this spring than they had budgeted for fertilizer, which is critical for their crops. Nitrogen-based fertilizer is particularly essential for corn, typically the nation’s top crop, which supports domestic livestock and is also processed into fuel that powers most U.S. passenger cars and trucks.

Farmers have voiced complaints about expensive fertilizer for years, but prices have risen even more sharply since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, which caused shipping delays through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical bottleneck for 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies. Beyond driving up fuel costs, which are a key component of fertilizer production, the shipping disruptions have essentially halted exports of nitrogen-based fertilizer made in the Persian Gulf and restricted access to vital fertilizer raw materials.

Per data from the American Farm Bureau Federation, roughly 15% of fertilizer imported into the United States comes from the Middle East, while half of the global supply of urea — a critical fertilizer component — originates in the region, alongside 30% of global ammonia supplies.

“When ports began increasing their nitrogen fertilizer prices amid the conflict and shipping worries, that directly impacts my farm operations,” Littleton noted.

Some farmers may not find fertilizer

However, matters could grow even more dire, as some farmers might not be able to secure fertilizer no matter what they are willing to pay, explained Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“We’ve been informed that a large number of farmers who did not preorder and pay for their fertilizer ahead of time might not get the crop nutrients they require for the current growing season or spring planting,” Duvall stated. “This is exactly why this scenario is so critical.”

Harry Ott, a cotton, corn, and peanut farmer who also serves as the head of the South Carolina Farm Bureau, noted that there is insufficient fertilizer stored in warehouses to meet domestic demand in the upcoming months.

“This is an incredibly dire situation that our farmers are facing,” Ott said.

Experts say don’t expect a quick fix

Prior to the recent surge in fertilizer prices, several factors over the past few years had already driven up fertilizer costs, beginning with the Russia-Ukraine war, which restricted access to raw materials and pushed natural gas prices higher. China also restricted phosphate exports as it prioritized meeting domestic demand.

The recent developments have exacerbated those preexisting supply challenges, meaning that even if the conflict in Iran were to come to an end, fertilizer prices are unlikely to drop quickly, explained Jacqui Fatka, a farm supply economist with CoBank, an agricultural lender.

“This situation will have lingering effects, and it will take time to get all operations back up and running and shipments moving again,” Fatka shared.

Additionally, shipments from the Middle East require 30 to 45 days on average to reach the United States, specifically the Port of New Orleans.

A portion of fertilizer is already stockpiled within the U.S. and can cover current demand amid the shortage of Middle Eastern imports, but these domestic supplies will eventually run dry.

“We aren’t entirely certain how this situation will unfold,” noted Nancy Martinez, director of public policy, trade, and biotechnology at the National Corn Growers Association.

Nitrogen-based and phosphate-based fertilizers are mostly manufactured within the U.S., which provides a small measure of relief, explained Anne Villamil, an economics professor at the University of Iowa.

“That said, energy prices count as a key input, so even if fertilizer is produced domestically, if the cost of those raw materials rises, farmers looking to purchase it will still face higher prices,” Villamil stated.

Skyrocketing oil prices could lead to higher overall food costs, due to the increased expense of diesel fuel required to transport goods to grocery stores and the petroleum products used for plastic packaging, noted Chad Hart, an economics professor at Iowa State University.

That said, the rise in fertilizer prices is not expected to trigger major grocery store price hikes, even as it squeezes farmers’ profit margins. This is because farm production costs only make up a small fraction of what consumers pay for items at the grocery store.

Efforts to curb the hit on farmers from costly fertilizer

The Trump administration has announced that it has taken action to reduce fertilizer costs, including expanding fertilizer imports from Venezuela, a move that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins described as “a huge step that puts farm security and farmers first.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has also confirmed that it previously announced $12 billion in one-time payments to help farmers recoup losses primarily caused by tariffs put in place by the Trump administration. In an official statement, the USDA added that it has distributed over $30 billion in additional aid to farmers since January 2025, and the agency emphasized its backing for a more competitive fertilizer market that would eventually drive down prices.

Fatka from CoBank pointed out that the $12 billion in aid will not go very far for farmers, who receive just $44 per corn acre, even though the USDA estimates that average production costs for U.S. farmers sit around $900 per acre.

Even so, farm bankruptcies remain uncommon, with just 315 reported last year — a minuscule share of the nearly 1.9 million farms across the country. Additionally, prices for the nation’s two biggest crops — corn and soybeans — have been on the rise in recent months.

Tom Waters, who operates roughly 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) of land dedicated to corn, soybeans, and wheat east of Kansas City, noted that the rise in fertilizer prices, paired with other increasing costs, makes it difficult to turn a profit when crop prices are this low.

“Profit margins are getting slimmer and slimmer, so we have to work diligently to cut our expenses and be as cost-conscious as possible, while still giving our soil and crops exactly what they need to thrive and yield harvests,” Waters shared.