USDA announces more than $100 million in investments toward fertilizer production

USDA will soon dish out more than $100 million on increasing domestic fertilizer production.

They will be spending $116 million on the effort, with the money coming from the Commodity Credit Corporation. The funds will help expand fertilizer production in nine states across eight different facilities.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says he hopes the money will lower inputs while increasing options for farmers. So far through the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program, USDA has spent more than half a billion dollars on more than 75 fertilizer facilities.

Related Stories
Potato growers now have a fresh benchmark for comparing fertilizer, pesticide, and pest-management practices across major production states.
Egg production accounted for much of the increase.
Kentucky Farm Bureau President Eddie Melton joins us to discuss fertilizer affordability concerns, Senate Agriculture Committee testimony, and spring planting conditions in Kentucky.
Agri Stats would no longer be allowed to show participant lists, rankings, or “flags,” and it could only report individual company data in narrow situations.
For dairy producers, that could help support fluid milk use in cafeterias, breakfast programs, and other child nutrition settings.
EU simplification may reduce some paperwork, but U.S. exporters still face costly traceability requirements.

LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

Corn inspections remain strong year-to-date, while China’s soybean and sorghum movement remains important to late-season export demand.
At the center of the announcement is the Blue Point Project in Louisiana, a $3.7 billion ammonia facility, USDA says, that will become the world’s largest ammonia plant once completed.
USDA says both crops remain ahead of the five-year average as farmers continue monitoring dry Corn Belt conditions.
Texas Farm Bureau takes us behind the scenes at USDA’s sterile fly facility, considered a first line of defense against New World Screwworm, a fight Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller fears is “futile.”
RealAg Radio’s Shaun Haney joins us to discuss Canadian farmer sentiment, saying many are also struggling with profitability and long-term outlook in agriculture.