‘We just kind of got blindsided’: US farmers squeezed by fertilizer crisis as Strait of Hormuz closure bites

American farmers are facing a bruising spring planting season, caught between surging fertilizer prices and uncertain supply chains after US-Israeli strikes on Iran prompted Tehran to block the Strait of Hormuz — a critical waterway for agricultural shipments.

For farmers like North Carolina-based grower Corriher, 47, the timing could hardly be worse. “This time of year is when the majority of fertilizer is put out in this country,” he told France24. “We got hit at the worst possible time, because we’re trying to buy fertilizer when it skyrockets and when the supply also gets cut.”

Corriher estimates that nitrogen fertilizer costs have risen by at least 40 percent since the conflict began. He has already reduced usage by a third a call he worries could damage his yields. Deliveries, too, remain uncertain. “I’ve ordered several loads of liquid nitrogen a few weeks ago, and they’re still saying they’re not sure when it’ll be delivered,” he said.

The broader market reflects similar pressure. The cost of urea, a widely used nitrogen-based fertilizer, has jumped by around 50 percent at the port of New Orleans.

Russell Hedrick, who farms up to 1,000 acres of corn and soybeans near Hickory, North Carolina, said around 75 percent of his fertilizer purchases were made after prices had already spiked. He has trimmed usage to the “bare minimum,” noting that even before the war, rising costs had pushed growers to their limits.

“Farmers have essentially become like Breaking Bad chemists with fertilizer, to get the most out of it,” the 40-year-old said. Of the sudden disruption, he added: “This year, we just kind of got blindsided.” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins offered some reassurance, stating that 80 percent of American farmers had secured fertilizer before the conflict.

But for those who had not, the remarks landed badly. Marshville farmer Derrick Austin, 55, called them “a gut shot.” He managed to secure three loads of nitrogen at pre-war prices after urgently contacting his supplier. “Thankfully, he let me buy three loads of nitrogen at the old price per ton so I could at least fertilize my wheat crop,” Austin said. “It was devastating.”

President Trump blamed “price gouging from the fertilizer monopoly” and pledged support, but some in his rural base who delivered him 78 percent of the vote in farming-dependent counties in 2024 are growing uneasy.

Corriher, a Trump supporter, said of the conflict: “It didn’t seem like we had really thought out all the consequences to the American people. I feel like these things were kind of overlooked as part of collateral damage.”

Austin said the crisis had left him reassessing his confidence in the administration. “I’m starting to question some of his reasoning,” he said, though he added that Trump “still beats some of the alternatives.”

Hedrick, who has voted for Trump three times, remained measured: “He’s human like the rest of us. I think he makes good calls, I think he makes mistakes.”

Iowa State University professor Chad Hart warned that while this season’s damage may be partially contained — many farmers applied fertilizer last autumn or earlier this spring a prolonged conflict could spell deeper trouble. The 2027 crop, he said, would be “a big concern” if fighting persists.