The Federal Trade Commission announced this week that they are formally launching a sweeping investigation into fertilizer pricing and market concentrations.
They are marking the first significant federal scrutiny of the fertilizer industry in years and giving farmers hope that the long-running concerns over soaring input costs and limited competition may finally face some legal examination. Speaking before farmers this week at the North Texas Farm, the Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson said the commission has already initiated a major industry-wide investigation into fertilizer prices, citing USDA’s new data on showing fertilizer has delivered the largest increase in production costs for U.S. farmers since 2020. He said these continued price increases are not something our nation or much less our farmers can continue to ignore at this time.
He said for farmers attending the event they had a standing ovation, and they were excited to see that there is an investigation into fertilizer pricing.
Audio Reporting by Tyron Spearman for Southeast AgNet.