The Union of Concerned Sciences recently published the piece “Farmers Face a Fertilizer Crisis at Spring Planting Time,” which states: “The ongoing blockade of ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz has affected the passage of oil, finished fertilizer products, and the raw materials used to synthesize fertilizer. Exacerbated by limited supply, the price of fertilizer has steadily increased since the beginning of the war. … Farmers actually apply far more fertilizer than required.”
The farm bill is currently being debated in Congress.
ALEXIS BADEN-MAYER, [email protected]
Baden-Mayer is research director at the Organic Consumers Association. Her recent pieces include “House Votes on Whether to Stand with Pesticide Victims or the Company that Poisoned Them, Monsanto (Bayer).“
She said today: “It’s not true that crops can’t be grown without synthetic, fossil fuel derived fertilizers as some claim. Organic farms don’t use these, but it is true that U.S. industrial farms rely on them.
“Many industrial farms using the most synthetic fertilizer don’t grow food. They grow field corn that is inedible and is used primarily for ethanol, secondarily for animal feed, and, in tiny amounts, for junk food ingredients like high fructose corn syrup.
“The fertilizer shortage caused by the war will be used as an excuse to put the last remaining family farmers in the Midwest out of business, but 43 percent of Midwestern farms are already owned by absentee landlords who employ tenant ‘farmers,’ meaning companies that operate the driverless machinery that plows, plants, harvests, and sprays chemicals all over the fields.
“This sort of thing always hits the factory farm livestock farmers the hardest. They’re already virtual serfs working for the dairy and egg companies and meat packers. They can’t control the cost of feed and they can’t control the price they’re paid by their corporate buyers.
“The U.S. industry is dominated by companies like Tyson and Cargill — as well as Brazilian and Chinese-owned JBS, National Beef, and Smithfield.
“Congress could use the farm bill to create an organic and grass-fed paradise. Because of the stewardship of the Native Americans, the U.S. has the best soil and water resources in the world, but they are quickly being depleted by farm bill choices that serve short-term profits, including of foreign conglomerates.
“It’s not too late to turn this around, but as with everything, political will driven by grassroots organizing is necessary.”