US Senators introduce Fertilizer Research Act to take in-depth look at domestic industry

US Senators have introduced new legislation titled the Fertilizer Research Act of 2023 which is calling for an in-depth look at the domestic fertilizer industry, specifically at competition and pricing.

The bill comes as there have been increased concerns over not only high nutrient cost but that there may be potential anti-trust issues with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) charged with overseeing this matter.

It was created by Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa and Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.

″Now we may learn that there is anti-trust violations and that could be challenged by the Department of Justice or the FTC (Federal Trade Commission),″ said Grassley.

Speaking during an interview on his website on 18 December, Grassley said from their numbers about one-third of the increased cost of crops that farmers are experiencing are from fertilizer expenses.

″We want to know whether the competitive forces of the marketplace are keeping the prices low as you would expect the free marketplace to do it,″ Grassley said.

Within one year of passage the bill would require the US Secretary of Agriculture, in consulting with the Economic Research Service, to issue a wide-ranging report on the USDA’s website regarding the domestic fertilizer industry.

The legislation is calling for the report to include comprehensive look at many aspects of the industry but is specifically asking for a description of impacts on the fertilizer market that influence prices agricultural producers receive.

It seeks to determine the current size and value over the previous 25 years of the US market and review imported fertilizers, with emphasis on the products arriving and the foreign companies which are involved.

The bill requests an understand of the anti-dumping and countervailing duties impacts on the retail segment as well as examine the domestic industry concentration to determine if that has caused any impacts.

It also wants the findings to show a description of the prices, crop-use efficiencies, and crop yields of emerging fertilizers and technologies, including biological fertilizers compared to conventional offerings.

An assessment of the regulatory environment governing fertilizer production, distribution and usage is sought as well.

Lastly the legislation is asking for a description over whether the public price reporting of fertilizer is transparent for market participants.

It states there is a want to determine if public price reporting is necessary to achieve transparency and to view an evaluation of the potential for the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a fertilizer reporting mechanism.

Under that proposal it would require the fertilizer industry to report prices at multiple levels of the supply chain on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

The bill recommends if this option is pursued, that a recommendation to Congress for a reporting mechanism should be established.