Senator Marshall: America Should Lead the World in Fertilizer Production

Senator Marshall Joins USDA Press Conference on Fertilizer Policy

Washington - Today,U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), delivered remarks at a press conference hosted by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and joined by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, and other ag leaders in Congress. This was focused on bringing down the costs of fertilizer by increasing domestic production.

Senator Marshall emphasized that high fertilizer prices remain one of the biggest challenges facing Kansas farmers. He called for reduced foreign dependence and swift congressional action on his key fertilizer legislation to bring down costs for American producers.

Click HERE or on the image to download Senator Marshall's full remarks.

Remarks as delivered:

"First of all, we knew that food is medicine. Today, we learned food is energy as well. But why we like working with Brooke and with Secretary Rollins is because you take lemons and turn them into lemonade. We're going to take this challenge right now of high fertilizer prices and ask: why aren't we the biggest fertilizer producer in the world? Why are we buying fertilizer from Russia? Why are we buying it from China? We're going to take lemons and turn them into lemonade. So, thank you. Thank you for doing that."

"The biggest challenge right now in the barnyard is input costs, okay? And fertilizers make up 40% of those input costs. So, like Secretary Rollins, like many of us, we've been working on this for at least five or six years. Whenever Russia invaded Ukraine, that's when we saw fertilizer prices jump way higher than they are today, and they stayed higher for at least 18 months than they are today as well."

"So, certainly, there are short-term solutions, and there are long-term solutions. I love this all-of-government approach - from expediting things through the rules and permitting process, from EPA and Energy out there funding new fertilizer plants as well. So, lots of good things are happening, but there are things Congress needs to do, too. All right, it's time to stop relying only on the Trump Administration, who, by the way, I think has done more for rural America than any administration has ever done, including adding $65 billion to the crop insurance programs, a $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund, just for starters as well. So, we're locked in on this - bringing down the cost of fertilizers."

"We did have a great hearing a week or two ago, and I just want to keep highlighting our bills that we need to get across the finish line: the Fertilizer Transparency Act, the Fertilizer Research Act of 2025, the Homegrown Fertilizer Act, the Plant Biostimulant Act, and the Fertilizer Sustain Act. And the last one we need to get across the finish line, of course, is removing the countervailing duties on phosphates from Morocco."

"So, again, the White House is doing its part. Congress needs to step up and act at Trump speed and try to help solve this riddle for American farmers. Thank you."

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