War with Iran disrupts fertilizer exports as U.S. farmers prepare for planting season

## Summary
War with Iran disrupts fertilizer exports as U.S. farmers prepare for planting season March 26, 2026 12:01 AM ET From By Frank Morris Iran war disrupts fertilizer exports just as U.S. farmers begin to plant crops Listen · 3:34 3:34 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed < iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/g-s1-115240/nx-s1-9700021" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Matt Ubel, standing on his farm near Wheaton, Kansas, motions to the fertilizer spreader he'll use to spread urea fertilizer this spring. Typically nitrogen fertilizer. "Right now, we're kind of ... we'll be in the thick of it," farmer Matt Ubel said from the cab of his huge green fertilizer spreader near Wheaton, Kansas. "Lot of nitrogen gets put on in the spring." Politics Trump delivers farmers another financial blow with Iran war The high cost of fertilizer and other farming necessities pushed many row crop farmers into the red last year. The Persian Gulf, nitrogen fertilizer hub of the world Farmers in rural Kansas, and across the world, are feeling the unexpected consequences of the war in the Persian Gulf because closing the Strait of Hormuz has bottled up almost 50% of the world's urea exports. And that could be an acute problem in vulnerable countries, especially those dependent on Persian Gulf oil for fertilizer. "What our product is used for, is food, is the production of food," Nigh said. "So the consequences aren't going to be immediate, but they could be substantial. farming fertilizer U.S. war in Iran Facebook Flipboard Email

## Article Content
War with Iran disrupts fertilizer exports as U.S. farmers prepare for planting season
March 26, 2026
12:01 AM ET
From
By
Frank Morris
Iran war disrupts fertilizer exports just as U.S. farmers begin to plant crops
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3:34
3:34
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Transcript
Matt Ubel, standing on his farm near Wheaton, Kansas, motions to the fertilizer spreader he'll use to spread urea fertilizer this spring.
Frank Morris
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Frank Morris
Spring planting season is starting across the northern hemisphere. But before seeds go into the ground, nutrients go into the soil. Typically nitrogen fertilizer.
"Right now, we're kind of ... we'll be in the thick of it," farmer Matt Ubel said from the cab of his huge green fertilizer spreader near Wheaton, Kansas. "Lot of nitrogen gets put on in the spring."
Politics
Trump delivers farmers another financial blow with Iran war
The high cost of fertilizer and other farming necessities pushed many row crop farmers into the red last year. Ubel says some were holding out for lower prices this spring, only to see the price of the most common nitrogen fertilizer, urea, spike close to 30% when Iran shut down shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, halting close to half the world's fertilizer trade.
"This probably threw some guys for a loop," said Ubel.
The Persian Gulf, nitrogen fertilizer hub of the world
Farmers in rural Kansas, and across the world, are feeling the unexpected consequences of the war in the Persian Gulf because closing the Strait of Hormuz has bottled up almost 50% of the world's urea exports.
Every plant needs nitrogen to grow. The best source of nitrogen is natural gas, and the Gulf states are sitting on the
world's largest gas reserve
.
"If you had sat us down before and said, 'Hey, I want you to think of the nightmare scenario for fertilizer. What would it be?' It would be this exact event during this exact time of year," said Josh Linville, who oversees the global fertilizer department at the brokerage firm StoneX.
Linville says urea that had been expected to arrive in the United States next month, in the peak of planting season, won't come.
The Fertilizer Institute predicts that U.S. farmers will be short some 2,000,000 tons of urea this spring.
Middle East conflict
War is pushing up energy prices now. Trump's policies could hurt for years to come
The Indicator from Planet Money
A trucker, a farmer, and an entrepreneur walk into a global supply shock
The United States is currently the world's top natural gas producer, which supports a robust domestic
fertilizer industry. Still, U.S. companies import
about 18%
of the nitrogen fertilizer sold in this country, drawing heavily on imports to cover the spring planting surge.
Other countries are much more dependent on petrochemical imports. Liquefied Natural Gas imports from the Persian Gulf fuel urea production in some of the top-producing countries. Or it did.
"Countries like India, the second biggest urea producer in the world, their production rates are starting to fall. Pakistan, China, all of these major producing countries are struggling to get these gas supplies," says Linville. "And all of a sudden, they're having to say, well, we've only got so much. We need to lower our fertilizer production to put into some of these other industries."
And natural gas isn't the only problem. About half the world's sulfur exports were shipped out of the Strait of Hormuz.
For instance, sulfur is an important plant nutrient on its own, but it's also a critical ingredient in phosphate fertilizer.
"We do produce a lot of phosphate fertilizers here in the U.S., but if we can't get sulfur, we can't produce phosphate fertilizers," said Veronica Nigh, chief economist at the Fertilizer Institute. "And so, it's kind of a twofer there."
No easy answers
Federal lawmakers are trying to help.. Bipartisan Senate legislation aims to lower fertilizer costs by requiring more transparent pricing.
The Trump Administration is lifting barriers to fertilizer imports from Venezuela and Morocco.
"They're trying to pull a number of levers," said Nigh. "I think that it's the acknowledgement that there aren't a lot of easy answers to this problem."
There's very little slack in the fertilizer supply chain. The product doesn't store well, some of it is prone to blowing up, some if it gets clumpy and hard to use with the slightest moisture. According to Nigh, fertilizer plants tend to operate at capacity and take years to construct. Iran was a top urea producer and exporter before the war. It's unclear when or if that capacity will come back online.
The gas fields in Iran and Qatar are the world's largest natural gas reserves. They supplied fertilizer production in India, normally the world's second-largest nitrogen fertilizer producer. But, those

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Trump's policies could hurt for years to come The Indicator from Planet Money A trucker, a farmer, and an entrepreneur walk into a global supply shock The United States is currently the world's top natural gas producer, which supports a robust domestic fertilizer industry.
- For instance, sulfur is an important plant nutrient on its own, but it's also a critical ingredient in phosphate fertilizer. "We do produce a lot of phosphate fertilizers here in the U.S., but if we can't get sulfur, we can't produce phosphate fertilizers," said Veronica Nigh, chief economist at the Fertilizer Institute. "And so, it's kind of a twofer there." No easy answers Federal lawmakers are trying to help..

### Areas for Consideration
- We need to lower our fertilizer production to put into some of these other industries." And natural gas isn't the only problem.
- The Trump Administration is lifting barriers to fertilizer imports from Venezuela and Morocco. "They're trying to pull a number of levers," said Nigh. "I think that it's the acknowledgement that there aren't a lot of easy answers to this problem." There's very little slack in the fertilizer supply chain.
- It's unclear when or if that capacity will come back online.

### Implications
- The Fertilizer Institute predicts that U.S. farmers will be short some 2,000,000 tons of urea this spring.
- Trump's policies could hurt for years to come The Indicator from Planet Money A trucker, a farmer, and an entrepreneur walk into a global supply shock The United States is currently the world's top natural gas producer, which supports a robust domestic fertilizer industry.
- It's unclear when or if that capacity will come back online.
- Middle East conflict Why it's so hard for world leaders to bring down oil and gasoline prices Even after the Strait of Hormuz reopens, it will likely take months to straighten out the fertilizer supply chain. "How long does it take until we get back to normal?

### Expert Commentary
This article covers fertilizer, world, farmers topics. Notable strengths include discussion of fertilizer. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1043.