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(NEXSTAR) – Unless you’re a farmer or avid gardener, chances are you don’t spend much time thinking about the cost of fertilizer. But the commodity is a crucial ingredient in growing or producing pretty much everything you put in your grocery cart or serve up on your dinner plate.
And it just got a lot more expensive.
The cost of fertilizer has soared since the beginning of the Iran War. Roughly 30% of the world’s fertilizers passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the war effectively cut off access to the waterway.
At the end of May, the Associated Press reported the price of fertilizer had spiked by 40% in three months. A rice farmer in Arkansas told The Economist the cost of fertilizer he needed suddenly increased by $50 per acre, driving up the cost of production by $200,000 for the season.
Expensive fertilizer is bad news for growers and for consumers.
“Everything else equal, we expect to see higher prices for corn, soybeans, wheat, potatoes, strawberries – everything that uses fertilizer,” said Dan Scheitrum, who teaches agribusiness at Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture.
A worker shows the chemical fertilizer that is used across the country in Thies, Senegal, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly) Corn and wheat are among the crops most vulnerable to swings in fertilizer prices. Fertilizer makes up about 33% to 44% of operating costs for corn and 43% to 45% of costs for wheat, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Some farmers can be more flexible, while others cannot.
“Maybe you won’t plant as many acres of corn or soybeans or potatoes, but that isn’t really an option for growers, particularly in California, that have orchards or perennial crops where they can’t really cut back on the planted acres of vineyards or trees because they’re already there,” Scheitrum said.
Farmers can also use less fertilizer, of course, but that likely means smaller yields. Smaller yields also translate to higher prices for consumers.
Carnivores aren’t getting off easy, either. “The United States grows a tremendous amount of corn and soybeans,” Scheitrum said. “The corn that we grow, most of it is for animal feed. This goes to cows, hogs, poultry, and it’s a main component of the cost of producing beef, corn, chicken.”
In short, more expensive feed will mean more expensive meat.
Fertilizer prices have started to drop a bit in recent weeks, Scheitrum added, and hypothetically would drop further if the war in Iran ended. But the damage may be done for now.
Many farmers have already gone through the planting season without the fertilizer they need, or they are paying sky-high prices for both fertilizer and fuel needed to produce and transport their products. The World Food Program of the United Nations expects this to have a “devastating impact” on crop yields — and consequently, food prices and the availability of food — for months to come.
The cost of fertilizer isn’t the only force driving up food prices, either. With gas being as expensive as it has been, the cost of trucking food from farm to store has gone up. We’re seeing the worst wheat crop in decades. Drought has put upward pressure on beef prices – and there are fears the New World screwworm is about to make it even worse. On-and-off tariffs have created uncertainty and volatility in the past year and a half.
A combination of many factors led to inflation reaching its highest level in three years last month. Food prices were up about 3% year-over-year. Fruits and vegetables specifically saw a price hike of around 6%. Tomatoes alone cost 32% more.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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