America is fortunate where agriculture is concerned. We have vast tracts of arable land as well as great grazing lands. But we are still dependent on fertilizer and pesticides to provide the great yields to which we have become accustomed, on which we utterly depend.
On Sunday, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins appeared on the Fox News program, The Sunday Briefing, to discuss the state of the nation’s food production and, in particular, fertilizer supplies. Host Peter Doocy asked about possible disruptions in fertilizer imports resulting from the ongoing Operation Epic Fury.
Secretary Rollins responded with an optimistic tone.
.@SecRollins on dealing with potential fertilizer disruptions: @POTUS waived the Jones Act, we’re opening a line from Venezuela, we have more coming available. Because of @POTUS‘ focus on energy, we’re actually in a much better situation on the pricing of fertilizer than most of… pic.twitter.com/uRpf1EUkXR
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 22, 2026
The post continues:
…we’re actually in a much better situation on the pricing of fertilizer than most of the world, but there’s still so much to do. We have to reshore our fertilizer back to America, and we’re working on that.
Mr. Doocy: Something that, from here, looks like a big headache for you, at the Agriculture Department. The Strait of Hormuz, partially closed, that means fertilizer is getting more expensive, that means it’s more expensive for farmers here in the U.S. to plant things. Does that mean that food prices are definitely going to go up here?
We might point out that food prices have been trending generally downward since Joe Biden left office, and also that the Strait of Hormuz was open while the Biden administration was jacking up food prices.
Secretary Rollins replies:
No, we don’t believe that’s going to happen. So, two quick things on that. The first is, what the fertilizer situation in America looks like right now. The good news is, a supermajority, almost all of our farmers, put their fertilizer orders in last fall. So there shouldn’t be too much of a disruption or an increase in the cost of planting for at least most of our farmers. Now for the 20 to 25 percent that are currently buying fertilizer for this planting season, there may be some decisions made, right? Corn requires more nitrogen, more fertilizers than soybeans does (sic). So there may be some pivoting in terms of what they’re planting. Obviously the president waived the Jones Act, we’re opening a line from Venezuela, we have more coming online, we’ll be announcing that very soon, to get more fertilizer moving.
A fair amount of fertilizers are derived from petroleum, and the Trump administration has made “drill, baby, drill” the order of the day. One particular key item that isn’t mentioned here is potash, which adds potassium to soils which makes plants hardier and yields higher. Onshoring this material isn’t so easy, as the United States doesn’t have great supplies of potash domestically. But the world’s leading supplier of potash lies just to our north: Canada.
Secretary Rollins continues:
Because of the president’s focus on energy, and energy independence, we’re actually, in America, in a much better situation on the pricing of fertilizer than almost the rest of the world. So that’s all really good news that you pivot to. But there’s still so much to do. We gotta reshore our fertilizer back into America, we’re going to be working on that, for the long term. On food prices, this is a temporary conflict, the president has said that, there shouldn’t be, really, a food price increase, at least for the long term. Over the last year we’ve brought almost all food prices down, with a couple of outliers. But dairy’s down, cheese’s down, fruit’s down, vegetables are down, a lot of the proteins are down, and we expect that trend to continue, as we continue to invest in rural America, bring the cost of labor down, bring the cost of inflation down, work to bring the cost of inputs down, while opening up these world markets to our farmers, which were closed under the last administration.
Predictions are hard to make, especially about the future. But opening up new markets for American products is always good – and in the long term, the best thing for American agriculture.
Read More: USDA Launches Vital Farm Security Plan to Shield American Farmland From Foreign Buyers
MAHA Introduces the New Food Pyramid and Explains How It Will Revolutionize Americans’ Health
As far as the Strait of Hormuz is concerned, that’s becoming less and less of an issue as more nations join the force aiming to keep that waterway open. Of course, the best solution is this: A new regime in Iran. The Iranian theocracy spread chaos across the planet, but a new, free Iran – a new Persia – will likely have just the opposite effect.
We live in interesting times.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and bold policies, America’s economy is back on track.
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