NCGA Report: U.S. Farmers Pay Substantially More for Inputs than Brazilian Counterparts

A new report released by the National Corn Growers Association today details the price premiums U.S. farmers pay for their inputs compared to Brazilian farmers, their largest global competitor. The premiums are, in some cases, more than double the costs paid by farmers in South America. The study was conducted by Kynetec in partnership with NCGA.

"I think there has long been a belief among U.S. farmers that we pay more for the same products compared to our international counterparts," said Matt Frostic, Michigan farmer and NCGA first vice president. "This work confirms our fears: we are paying substantially more for our inputs. But the price gouging that is happening for U.S. farmers is even worse than many of us suspected."

The findings include:

• Across all corn seed comparisons, U.S. prices were considerably higher, averaging a 68% premium over Brazil from 2023-2025.
• Fungicides show some of the largest price differences, with some comparisons showing U.S. prices more than double Brazilian levels depending on the crop, product category, active ingredient and year.
• Across corn and soybeans, U.S. herbicide prices were higher than Brazilian prices, with many comparisons showing U.S. prices near double Brazil's levels.
• Insecticide gaps varied by crop but often favored Brazil: U.S. corn insecticide prices were materially higher, averaging 87% higher from 2023 to 2025.

The report is the culmination of months of work by NCGA's Inputs Task Force, chaired by Frostic and formed to identify the factors contributing to sustained record or near-record input cost highs facing farmers in recent years. The task force identified the research to understand U.S. costs vs. those of their South American counterparts as a foundational piece of work for understanding how input costs affect global competitiveness.

"In recent years, rising input costs have put intense pressure on corn farmers," said Krista Swanson, NCGA chief economist. "It's easy to focus on corn prices when talking about the farm economy, but that misses a big part of the story. The other side of the equation is what farmers are paying to put a crop in the ground, and those costs have kept climbing to levels that are becoming unsustainable."

NCGA has been raising concern about and acting on rising input costs for years. Beyond seed and pesticide products, phosphate prices spiked in 2021 following a successful petition by the Mosaic Company, and later, J.R. Simplot, to add countervailing duties to imported phosphate. Corn growers forcefully opposed that petition and called on Mosaic to withdraw its petition. Corteva Agriscience followed suit several years later, with a successful petition to impose duties on 2,4-D supplies; and, just last week, Bayer filed a similar petition to impose duties on imported supplies of glyphosate.

"Corn farmers are on track to lose money for a fourth consecutive year," said Frostic. "We certainly want to see higher prices for our corn - and NCGA works every day on building demand - but we can't ignore the prices we're paying for inputs right now. On top of the premiums we're paying, companies are now using trade remedy laws to consolidate their market share and increase prices even further. If this trend continues, input providers will force their own customers out of business."

NCGA is calling for increased transparency from input providers and for pricing to better reflect the realities of the current economic environment. It is also pursuing policy initiatives that will make U.S. farmers more globally competitive, calling out how Brazil imposed tariffs and trade barriers on U.S. ethanol, while at the same time enjoying lower input prices. NCGA is also pursuing legislative reform to the countervailing duty process that will require the interests of the public to be considered before duties on agricultural products are imposed by the Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission.

Read the Report