A sudden fertilizer price spike forced farmers to reconsider purchases, crop rotations and production costs. North Dakota farmer Adam Ladwig describes what happened on his farm and inside a meeting where approximately 100 producers from 18 states raised concerns with the Federal Trade Commission about fertilizer pricing, transparency and industry consolidation.

Fertilizer Fight Reaches the FTC

Market to Market - The MtoM Podcast

Antitrust, Collusion, Government Intervention. Sound familiar? Pick an industry in agriculture and we could be talking about any of them right now, but today it's fertilizer. Recently the head of the Federal Trade Commission went to Texas. About 100 farmers from across the country were in this location and had the ear of the head of the FTC who is interested in what's going on in the fertilizer industry.

Is it just there's not enough players? Is it there is high input costs for the fertilizer, therefore the price is higher? Or is it something more? We're going to talk to a farmer in North Dakota today who was at this session recently and had conversations and heard what was discussed. His name is Adam Ladwig and he is a farmer in the town of Gwinner, North Dakota. So if you go Aberdeen to Fargo, in the middle is where you find his farm.

We'll talk about how things are going there, what their crop update is. So if you want to know what the corn looks like in North Dakota. And by the way, is that the Corn Belt? We'll ask him that question. But then we'll spend the majority of the time talking about fertilizer and consolidation. That is the topic that is happening and farmers are facing, especially in his area and many other areas. So today, fertilizer is the topic, but there is something for everyone in this interview.

If you have any feedback for me, send it to me, Paul Yeager. By the way, that's me, host of this podcast. Send it to me at paul.yeager at iowapbs.org. New installments of this podcast come out each and every Tuesday. I love hearing from you. Subscribe for that Market Insider newsletter.

Fertilizer Fight Reaches the FTC

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Fertilizer Fight Reaches the FTC

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.