Farmers Hit Hard by Middle East War, Fertilizer Prices Soar

It's April 15th.

This is Toronto Blue Jays News, today's team news powered by AI.

US farmers are getting slammed right now with fertilizer prices shooting up over 40 percent,

all thanks to the war in the Middle East blocking the straight of Hormuz.

That's the main shipping lane for these supplies, hitting corn and soybean planters like

Andy Korher and North Carolina at the Worst Time Peak Spring, planting season.

Diesel costs are spiking too, and orders placed weeks ago are stuck in limbo with no delivery

dates.

Farmers without big storage can't stock up early, so they're blending what they can and

hauling bags by tractor just to keep fields going.

Guys like Russell Hedrick and Derek Austin, long-time trump voters from the area are cutting

fertilizer used to the bare minimum or a third less.

Worried it'll tank their yields.

They feel like collateral damage from the conflict, even if they locked in some old prices

just in time for weed.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins notes 80 percent of farmers bought their spring needs

before the war kicked off.

But experts like Iowa State Professor Chad Hart say the ag economies already in recession

with falling incomes and high costs, past shortages like in 2021 were predictable.

This one blindsided everyone.

Trump's vowing to back farmers against price gouging, and these folks hope a quick fix

reopens the straight for long-term peace, easing the squeeze.

Go for next crops in 2027.