(Radio Iowa) – Senators from Iowa and Wisconsin recently re-introduced a bill that would require the U-S-D-A to study competition in the fertilizer market and its impact on prices paid by farmers. Three companies dominate fertilizer production in North America, according to Farm Action. Noah Coppess farms and runs an agri-business in eastern Iowa. and told Senators during a Judiciary Committee hearing that farmers right now are price takers, not price makers – especially when consolidation limits their options.

“Fertilizer pricing has become very volatile with at times, wild swings and costs varying as much as 25 to 50 percent from year to year,” he says. Coppess says they have to pay up front. “We are asked to pre-pay for fertilizer three-to-six months prior to it being applied to the soil, and up to 14 months before the crop will be harvested,” Coppess says.

The C-E-O of the Fertilizer Institute said during the hearing that geopolitics and demand from U-S corn growers have contributed to higher fertilizer prices. He said streamlining environmental permitting for mines and production plants would help the sector boost the domestic supply. The U-S imports the vast majority of the potash used in fertilizer, with most of it coming from Canada.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is a co-sponsor of the Fertilizer Research Act, which would require the U-S-D-A to conduct a study on competition in the fertilizer market and its impact on price.