Tag Archives: inputs

By Faith Parum Economist Rising input costs tied to the conflict in the Middle East are adding strain to an already challenging farm economy. To better understand how global fertilizer market disruptions are affecting producers during spring planting, the American Farm Bureau Federation conducted a Fertilizer Availability Survey of farmers and ranchers across the country. More than 5,700 farmers responded ... Read More »

On March 31, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) urged the United States International Trade Commission to revoke countervailing duty (CVD) orders on phosphate fertilizers from Morocco and Russia, citing significant economic harm to U.S. wheat farmers. In a letter to Secretary Lisa R. Barton, NAWG emphasized that maintaining these duties would continue to impose unnecessary costs on farmers already ... Read More »

On March 24, 2026, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) released a new report highlighting the significant financial burden that countervailing duties (CVD) on phosphate fertilizer imports have placed on U.S. wheat farmers. The report finds that these duties have greatly increased fertilizer costs, contributing to nearly $1 billion in additional expenses for wheat growers – alone – between ... Read More »

From Successful Farming Surging costs for key crop nutrients that growers need could spur sharp cutbacks in fertilizer use. Prices are climbing for phosphate, crucial for plant growth, amid fear that an already difficult farm economy may be poised to worsen into a full-blown crisis. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From world-grain.com One hundred miles east of Denver and at 5,350 feet above sea level, Ben Palen’s hard red winter wheat crop is a low-carbon project on a large scale. Planted across 6,300 acres of land owned by Palen, his wife Leslie Hammer-Palen and two other family farms, it’s one-half blueprint, one-half labor of love long in the making for ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The American Farm Bureau and 11 other farm groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court to shield the Monsanto Company from lawsuits alleging glyphosate causes cancer. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s line of Roundup products, revolutionized the agricultural industry when it was introduced in 1974, the farm groups stated in a friend-of-the-court brief filed May 9. ... Read More »

The Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) has announced that they are expanding the Agriculture Support Program to producers and transporters who purchased fuel for agricultural purposes between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024. The process for submitting applications for 2024 fuel purchases will closely mirror that of the 2023 process, making it as simple and user friendly as possible. ... Read More »

On March 25, Grant County wheat grower Ryan Poe testified before the Washington State Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology in support of HB1912 concerning the exemption for fuels used for agricultural purposes in the Climate Commitment Act. Poe told the committee most wheat farmers are now able to get carbon fee-free fuel and acknowledged the work the Washington State Department ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The House passed a bill to help farmers avoid paying cap-and-trade taxes on fuel, rejecting a measure supported by the Washington Farm Bureau that would require fuel stations to give farmers on-the-spot discounts. House Bill 1912 was approved March 12 on a 93-4 vote and now goes to the Senate. It’s an attempt to keep cap-and-trade ... Read More »

From fox13seattle.com For years, Washington State has been losing two farms per day, and the impact of the Climate Commitment Act is making it even harder for some to survive. The Washington Farm Bureau says the Climate Commitment Act, which passed in 2021, is now disproportionately impacting small farms. If the system worked as intended, farmers wouldn’t have been negatively ... Read More »