Rollins targets high input costs as USDA, DOJ investigate fertilizer companies

USDA Secretary of Ag Brooke Rollins recently revealed she is tasked with meeting with crop input and fertilizer providers to push for a reduction in the cost of crop inputs.

The revelation comes two weeks after news emerged the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and USDA are actively investigating potential collusion and antitrust violations among major global fertilizer suppliers, which is at least partly due to a reported 33% rise in fertilizer costs and record-high input prices.

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“We want real relief for our farmers,” Rollins told Fox News on Saturday, according to reporting from Agri-Pulses’ Oliver Ward. The president, she revealed, has tasked her with holding discussions with business leaders “to make sure that the farmers are seeing that relief.”

The broader ag policy backdrop includes a renewed push from the Trump administration to bolster farm income through expanded biofuel demand, increased financing access and regulatory changes aimed at lowering operational costs. Recent actions include setting higher renewable fuel blending requirements to drive demand for corn and soybean-based fuels, expanding loan guarantees for farmers and rural businesses, and easing certain equipment regulations to reduce repair and ownership costs.

The administration is grappling with high fuel and fertilizer prices, which shot up since the onset of the Iran war. Price and supply concerns are looming over spring planting season and dimming rural American’s financial outlooks.

According to Ward, sources familiar with the situation say officials are considering alternate remedies and could still take further trade actions. The administration has reportedly weighed lifting countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer as well as exempting fertilizer inputs from a 10% global tariff – including ammonia, sulfur and sulfuric acid.