FARGO, N.D. — The North Dakota Corn Growers Association is intensifying its fight against fertilizer companies it says are manipulating supply and distorting prices at the expense of farmers and consumers nationwide.
Gwinner farmer and NDCGA Secretary/Treasurer and board director Adam Ladwig joined a select group of farmers and agribusiness leaders who met with Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson to address the companies’ unchecked fertilizer pricing practices.
Industry data shows that fertilizer companies returned more than $20 billion to shareholders over the past five years while farm income declined and farm bankruptcies doubled.
“The companies are increasing profits based on false pricing, and it’s got to stop,” Ladwig said. “Farmers have lived through two fertilizer price spikes in four years, both following the same playbook: disrupt supply to justify higher prices, but those prices never return to normal.”
“The FTC, with the Department of Agriculture, is here (at the meeting) to try to figure out why and if the law is being broken, then these fertilizer manufacturers are going to hear from the FTC,” Ferguson said while announcing a formal investigation to fertilizer pricing.
The meeting resulted from outreach conducted mostly by corn industry leaders, and NDCGA referenced how the impact of fertilizer price increases has extended beyond the farm. USDA projects overall food prices to rise 3.4% in 2026, and Wolfe Research estimates current fertilizer costs could add another 2 percentage points to food inflation.
Ladwig thanked the chairman for responding to corn growers’ frustrations and announcing the investigation but said neither will stop NDCGA from fighting anticompetitive fertilizer pricing.
North Dakota Corn Growers Association
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