Headline Stack
🫘 Soybean farmers lost nearly $75 per acre in 2025 as exports run 15–20% behind normal
🌍 Only 19% of Southern farmers pre-booked fertilizer as urea, diesel prices surge
🌽 Minnesota farmer says urea up nearly 50%, prompting shift from corn to soybean acres
📋 Thompson pushes Farm Bill to House floor with $55–56B in new investments
🔬 Trump invokes Defense Production Act to boost domestic glyphosate production
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🫘 Soybean farmers lost nearly $75 per acre in 2025 as exports run 15–20% behind normal. — LINK
Midwest soybean producers lost almost $75 per harvested acre in the 2025 crop even after federal trade-war aid, according to the American Soybean Association, and U.S. soybean exports remain 15% to 20% below normal as Brazil and Argentina have absorbed China's demand. The squeeze has tightened further since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran on Feb. 28, bottling up nitrogen fertilizer flows through the Strait of Hormuz and sending urea prices sharply higher; an April 7 ceasefire has not restored normal shipping. "Our biggest struggles are our inputs, be it fertilizer, seed, chemical, parts," said Doug Bartek, a fifth-generation Nebraska farmer and chairman of the Nebraska Soybean Association. "There has been so much drastic markup in all of these. And I just kind of feel like the farmer's kind of painted in the corner." China met its initial purchase commitment of 12 million metric tons by January under the late-2025 deal, but operating costs for U.S. soybean production are projected to rise again in 2026, per USDA.
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🌍 70% of farmers can't afford needed fertilizer; Southern pre-booking lags at 19% — LINK
American Farm Bureau Federation data show at least 70% of farmers say they can't afford all the fertilizer they need, farm diesel prices are up 46% since the end of February, and only 19% of Southern producers pre-booked fertilizer versus 67% of Midwestern growers.
The federation reports countries affected by the Iran war account for "nearly 49% of global urea exports and about 30% of global ammonia exports," with roughly one-third of global seaborne fertilizer trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
USDA said it will investigate "whether fertilizer producers colluded to raise fertilizer prices" and is preparing an online tool for farmers to confidentially report supplier issues, coordinating with the FTC and DOJ as needed.
🌽 Minnesota farmer reports urea up nearly 50%, prompting corn-to-soybean acre shift — LINK
Urea prices have risen nearly 50% since early January, according to Kyle Jore, a northern Minnesota soybean farmer on the board of the Midwest Council on Agriculture, with up to two-thirds of worldwide seaborne urea trade moving through the Strait of Hormuz per UNCTAD.
"The current fertilizer prices could also cause some farmers to shift from planting corn to planting more soybeans," Jore said, noting soybeans require less nitrogen fertilizer.
Virginia dairy and grain producer Ben Smith of Cool Lawn Farm said diesel has "increased $2 a gallon" in six weeks on an operation that burns nearly 3,000 gallons per week, pushing him to add storage and source manure as a nitrogen substitute.
📋 Thompson pushes Farm Bill to House floor with $55–56B in new investments — LINK
The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 cleared the House Agriculture Committee on a 34-17 vote with seven Democrats in support, building on an earlier package that included an estimated $55 billion to $56 billion in additional investments.
"Quite frankly, I think with what our farmers need right now, it'll give them certainty," said Rep. Glenn "G.T." Thompson, Chair of the House Agriculture Committee. "And so, I think there's an urgency in Congress to get this done."
The last farm bill expired in 2023; Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) is leading parallel Senate drafting efforts, and Thompson said House passage is needed to "build up some momentum in the Senate."
🔬 Trump's February Defense Production Act order boosts domestic glyphosate production — LINK
A February executive order invokes the Defense Production Act to expand domestic production of elemental phosphorus for glyphosate-based herbicides, which the directive calls "the most widely used crop protection tools in the United States"; manufacturers face a proposed $7.25 billion class-action settlement over cancer claims on top of more than $11 billion already paid.
Legal analysts cited in the report say the order "does not provide blanket immunity but may shield companies from certain liabilities when acting in compliance with federal directives."
A bipartisan group in Congress is working to reverse or limit the order; the EPA continues to maintain that glyphosate is safe when used per label directions and does not require cancer warnings.
Southern producers entered the 2026 planting season with a stark disadvantage: just 19% locked in fertilizer ahead of time versus roughly two-thirds of their Midwestern counterparts — a gap now amplified by Strait of Hormuz disruptions pushing urea and ammonia prices sharply higher.