Trump’s Iran War is Crushing American Farmers with Fertilizer Shortages and Price Spikes

American farmers are facing a new crisis born from Donald Trump’s manufactured war with Iran — soaring fertilizer prices and crippling shortages that threaten their very livelihoods. John Bartman, an Illinois farmer whose family has tilled the land since the days of President Polk, sums it up: “It’s just another straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

The choke point is the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-third of the world’s fertilizer supply passes. Since the Trump administration ramped up military tensions and sanctions in the region, fertilizer shipments have stalled, sending prices from roughly $400 per ton in January to over $600 today, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The American Farm Bureau Federation warns that nearly 70 percent of U.S. farmers may now be unable to afford the fertilizer their crops need. This shortage compounds a decade-long economic squeeze on American agriculture, driving farm bankruptcies up 46 percent between 2024 and 2025. More than half of farmers report worsening financial conditions in 2026.

Regional disparities in fertilizer pre-purchasing highlight the uneven pain. While 67 percent of Midwest farmers secured fertilizer before prices spiked, only 19 percent of Southern farmers did, setting the stage for even greater hardship in some areas.

Despite the mounting crisis, Trump administration officials like Vice President JD Vance and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins downplay the severity. Rollins claimed on Fox Business that “America has plenty of fertilizer,” while Vance dismissed the conflict as a “little blip in the Middle East.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed these misleading reassurances, ignoring that the U.S. imports a significant portion of its fertilizer and is vulnerable to global supply shocks.

In reality, the U.S. produces just 9 percent of the world’s fertilizer and remains a net importer. The Trump administration’s own policies have worsened the situation: they eliminated a Biden-era $900 million Fertilizer Production Expansion Program aimed at building domestic capacity, citing executive orders.

This fertilizer crisis is another example of how Trump’s reckless foreign policy and economic mismanagement are directly harming everyday Americans. While the administration spins false narratives, farmers like Bartman are left to bear the brunt — watching profits vanish as their fields go undernourished and their futures grow uncertain. The price of Trump’s Iran war is being paid in dirt and debt across the heartland.