Submitted Photo The issue affects all crop types, with rice, cotton, peanuts, vegetables, fruits, barley, corn, and soybeans experiencing significant rates of farmers unable to afford complete fertilizer needs, according to a farmer survey. Photo from Adobe Stock.

Agriculture leaders say farmers in North Dakota and across the country are in crisis because of unaffordable fertilizer prices.

A new survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation shows 70% of farmers across the country cannot afford the amount of fertilizer needed for their crops.

Matt Perdue, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, said producers were already grappling with a perfect storm of financial pressure from low commodity prices, high input costs and substantial debt loads. He said the conflict in Iran, which has severely impacted global fertilizer markets, has only exacerbated an already precarious situation.

“I think it’s really important for people to understand that additional cost is just extending or increasing the loss that producers were expecting to have in 2026,” he said, “and that’s really the challenge that we’re facing right now.”

Perdue said farmers started the year paying more for fertilizer than in previous years. In the Midwest, where a large portion of farms pre-purchased fertilizer, nearly 50% still report being unable to afford all they need for their operations.

Perdue said the most vulnerable are farmers who struggled to secure operating loans and subsequently delayed purchasing fertilizer. He said that pattern leaves them fully exposed to the rapid price increases brought on by the geopolitical crisis.

Perdue noted that heavy consolidation in the fertilizer industry has created a structural problem.

“The folks that we are really worried about right now are those young and beginning farmers who are dealing with high debt loads to just try to make this thing work,” he said, “and now, they’re seeing dramatically increased input costs on top of an already difficult operating environment.”

Congress passed a $12 billion farm aid package in December to help farmers manage economic hardship, market disruptions and elevated input costs. Lawmakers also allocated more than $59 billion in enhancements for farm safety-net programs in last year’s budget reconciliation bill.

While Perdue acknowledged the administration’s efforts to investigate market concentration and address the chronic financial strain, he called on more concrete action to address systemic issues.

“Those are important improvements, but we’re still questioning whether those improvements are enough to weather another storm, more volatility, more uncertainty that has plagued agriculture,” he said, “and I think there’s still work to be done to put family farm agriculture on a strong, sustainable footing for the long term.”