Missouri Corn Applauds FTC Investigation Into Fertilizer Cartel

Posted on: May 28, 2026

Missouri Corn Growers Association (MCGA) grower-leaders joined farmers and agricultural organizations from 18 states Thursday in McKinney, Texas, to call for stronger oversight and accountability in today's consolidated fertilizer industry. During the town hall event, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced a formal investigation into potentially anti-competitive fertilizer practices.

"Farmers are carrying the weight of rising input costs while fertilizer companies continue posting record profits," Missouri Corn board member Brian Willott, a corn farmer from Mexico, Mo., said following the event. "This market is not functioning the way a competitive market should, and growers across the country are calling for transparency and accountability."

A small number of multinational companies, including Nutrien, CF Industries, Mosaic, and OCI, control a significant share of the fertilizer market. Combined, these companies returned more than $20 billion to shareholders over the last five years while net farm income declined and farm bankruptcies increased sharply in several states. Those pressures are contributing to continued farm losses nationwide, with more than 158,000 American farms lost since 2018. Not a single state added farms last year.

Grower leaders have been sounding the alarm on the dramatic rise in fertilizer costs over the past several years. Prices for key nitrogen products like urea have more than doubled since 2020 and have failed to return to baseline levels. Urea prices averaged roughly $200 to $250 per ton in 2020 before climbing past $900 in 2022. Prices remained well above pre-2020 levels before surging again following recent disruptions tied to conflict in the Middle East.

"Fertilizer is not optional. Farmers cannot produce a healthy crop without it," said Brice Fischer, a Missouri Corn board member from Rockville, Mo. "We have lived through two fertilizer spikes in four years, both following the same pattern: a supply disruption occurs, prices surge, and they never fully return. When a handful of companies control supply and pricing power, growers are left with fewer options and higher costs year after year."

In addition to Willott and Fischer, MCGA board members Patrick Seyer of Oran, Mo., and Addie Yoder of Leonard, Mo., along with Missouri Corn CEO Bradley Schad, attended to share firsthand concerns about the impact of fertilizer pricing on today's agricultural economy. Missouri Corn has continued advocating for increased competition, improved market transparency, and policies that strengthen domestic fertilizer production while protecting farmers from unfair pricing practices.

"This conversation is long overdue," says Schad. "Farmers are asking for a fair marketplace and transparency from an industry that has operated unchecked for far too long."