Ernst Pushes to Stabilize Fertilizer Markets, Bring Phosphate Production Home

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, are working to add phosphate – a critical fertilizer ingredient – to the U.S. Critical Minerals List.

In a bipartisan letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, the lawmakers, joined by over 60 of their colleagues, explain that this designation will bring phosphate production home, strengthening supply chains, diminishing our reliance on countries like China, lowering input prices for farmers, and ultimately safeguarding America's food security. They also thanked Secretary Burgum for heeding their call to include potash on the draft list, and emphasized that they look forward to working with him to ensure phosphate is recognized as well.

“Phosphate, like potash, is indispensable to global food production and U.S. agriculture. It has no substitutes in farming, and disruptions in supply have immediate and far-reaching consequences for American producers, food prices, and national security,” wrote the lawmakers. “Farmers across the country are already experiencing the impacts of market volatility and supply pressures tied to phosphate availability.”

U.S. Reps. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) are leading this effort in the House.

Read the full letter here.

Background:

Ernst works tirelessly on behalf of Iowa farmers and producers. She has consistently advocated for critical fertilizer access, including her most recent call to shine a light on market factors driving the high cost of fertilizer and her successful push to reinstate potash to the U.S. Critical Minerals List.

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