USDA to Fund $500 Million to ‘Fast Track’ Fertilizer Plants

Brooke Rollins, US agriculture secretary, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Grapevine, Texas, US, on Saturday, March 28, 2026. The Conservative Political Action Conference launched in 1974 brings together conservative organizations, elected leaders, and activists. Photographer: Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg Photo by Shelby Tauber /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — The US Department of Agriculture will invest $500 million in new and existing fertilizer facilities to “fast track” more production in America, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a press conference Wednesday. 

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Fertilizer prices have been elevated in recent years due to geopolitical and trade conflicts, including US duties on key suppliers, President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the wars in Ukraine and Iran. The elevated costs, at a time when farmers are also facing low crop prices, have raised concerns about the nation’s food security.

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“We want fertilizer plants built in America and we are willing to prioritize it,” Rollins said. “By opening up the market, obviously those prices will come down for our farmers.”

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Shares in fertilizer producers Nutrien Ltd., Mosaic Co. and CF Industries Holdings Inc. fluctuated after the announcement.

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The new program will prioritize project readiness and financial viability, with measurable production outlines, Rollins said. To be sure, however, two of the three main types of fertilizer — phosphate and potash — are mined, and the US has limited reserves.

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The nation produces most of its own phosphate and nitrogen fertilizers, but the foreign supplies it does require have become pricier due to trade policies and global supply disruptions. The US imports nearly all of its potash, largely from Canada.

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Wednesday’s event largely flagged nitrogen fertilizer projects including CF Industries’ low-carbon ammonia production facility in Louisiana, which Rollins said will be officially breaking ground in about three weeks. Joshua Westling, the founder of J Westling & Co., spoke at the press conference about a project in Nebraska that is expected to come online in 2029, producing 365,000 tons of urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer annually. 

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The USDA is looking for a “small number of projects” that already have private financing “and that with an injection of federal capital can be accelerated to provide actual fertilizer that farmers can purchase quicker,” Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden said at the event.

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Trump earlier this week suspended duties on phosphate fertilizers from Morocco, a move that the USDA estimates could drop prices by 22%.

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The action on fertilizers also comes after the agency on Tuesday said it would invest up to $500 million in mid-size meatpackers to help offset the higher costs associated with a shrinking US cattle herd. That program, which excludes the country’s largest meat processors, is meant to hedge against consolidation in the agriculture industry that the Trump administration has repeatedly called out. The Justice Department has ongoing investigations into both the meat and fertilizer industries.

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