mar 24, 2026: fertilizer and the strait of hormuz
The news that you may have seen about farmers not being able to obtain fertilizer due to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz is just not accurate. While sourcing fertilizer may be an issue for farmers in other countries, it is not an issue for farmers in the United States.
Source: University of Illinois “U.S. Fertilizer Industry in Global Markets.”
Corn and soybean production relies on three primary ingredients for fertilizers: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K). The US is relatively self-reliant on the Nitrogen and Phosphorus it consumes, producing 95% and 87% respectively. While the US does import more than 90% of its Potassium consumption, the vast majority of those imports come from Canada. Canada wants to export Potassium to the US and we want to import it from Canada. There are certainly no Strait of Hormuz issues with Canada. The bottom line is that farmers in the US are able to obtain all the fertilizer that they care to acquire.