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# GRAPHIC: Fertilizer prices are spiking ahead of the planting season
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/fertilizer-prices-are-spiking-ahead-of-the-planting-season/
- Published: 2022-02-24T16:38:39.000Z
- Updated: 2022-02-24T16:38:39.000Z
- Description: The USDA expects the prices to affect some producers' plans.
- Author: Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
- Tags: Agribusiness, Data Harvest, National, TP::Explainer, Fertilizer, USDA, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

Fertilizer is an [essential tool](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/graphic-seed-and-fertilizer-make-up-more-than-half-of-the-operating-costs-for-corn-and-soybean-producers/) for farmers, especially those who grow America's largest cash crops, corn and soybeans. For corn growers, fertilizer accounts for about a third of their input costs.

But fertilizer prices are now spiking.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture [estimated](https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=103194&ref=investigatemidwest.org) the three kinds of fertilizer have dramatically increased in price over the past year: anhydrous ammonia, 235%; urea, 149%; and liquid nitrogen, 192%.

"Researchers expect the spike in fertilizer prices to affect producer decisions," the USDA [said](https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=103194&ref=investigatemidwest.org).

***\[Read more: [Fertilizer washes off Midwest farm fields and taints communities’ drinking water, poisons Gulf of Mexico](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/excess-fertilizer-washed-from-midwestern-fields-is-slowly-poisoning-the-gulf-of-mexico/)\]***

The rising prices have already had some impact — one Midwest farmer [told Investigate Midwest in December](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/covid-19-disrupted-supply-chains-now-illinois-farmers-face-higher-prices/) she decided to not plant corn on her 183-acre farm because the fertilizer prices were too high.

One explanation for the spike, [experts said](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/covid-19-disrupted-supply-chains-now-illinois-farmers-face-higher-prices/), was supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the graphic below, the USDA uses the state of Iowa as a stand-in for the U.S. because of its importance to the nation's crop production.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/d3/cdd3c059-8898-40b1-bcf7-cb2d3aa89775/content/images/investigatemidwest-org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/fertilizer_prices.png)

*Top image: Farmer Paul Jeschke holds up an ear of corn on his farm near Mazon, Illinois, on Aug. 20, 2015\. photo by Darrell Hoemman, Investigate Midwest*