A Republican farmer standing in a Mississippi Delta field looked straight into a camera and said it plainly: he can't afford to fertilize his crops this season. He is not an outlier. Seventy percent of U.S. farmers say they cannot afford fertilizer right now, farm bankruptcies are up 46% from last year, and the price of urea has spiked 49% since Trump and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Trump's war started in the Strait of Hormuz. The bill landed in American farm fields.
The Math Is Simple, and It Doesn't Work
The USDA's own projections say corn now costs $5.00 per bushel to grow. It will sell for $4.20. Soybeans cost $12.27 to produce and will sell for $10.30. That's not farming. That's a slow bankruptcy with extra steps.
About a third of the world's fertilizer supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. attack on Iran on February 28 effectively closed it, blocking exports from Qatar, the source of roughly 20% of American fertilizer. Diesel prices followed oil prices upward. The result is that during the critical spring planting season, the inputs farmers need are either unavailable or priced out of reach.
Tennessee farmer Todd Littleton told PBS NewsHour he expects to pay $100,000 more for fertilizer this season, a 40% increase from last year. A corn and cattle farmer in Iowa told NBC News he plans to use less fertilizer this year, which means lower yields, which means less income.
The Delta Republican
The Republican farmer filmed in the Mississippi Delta by Perfect Union said what many rural voters are now thinking: "The price of diesel is through the roof, the cost of fertilizer skyrocketed, and farm bankruptcies are up 46%. 70% of farmers now say they can't afford to fertilize their fields this season. Trump has caused a farm crisis."
There's no way to dress that up. He voted Republican. He is a Republican. And he's saying Trump caused this.
What Was Already Broken
This crisis didn't start with Iran. Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies rose 55% in 2024, then 46% more in 2025. Before the first missile flew, farmers were already absorbing the hit from Trump's IEEPA tariffs, which extracted roughly $110 million from fertilizer imports between February and October 2025. Iran accelerated a collapse that was already in motion.
By early 2026, farm bankruptcies were up another 70% from the already-elevated 2025 rate. The American Farm Bureau Federation warned this spring that the combination of high input costs, depressed commodity prices, and rising interest rates had created a structural crisis in U.S. agriculture.
"Right now, our farmers can get the product, it's just really expensive.", Faith Parum, American Farm Bureau Federation economist
The administration's response has been to promise solutions. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the U.S. is "working on" keeping fertilizer costs down. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
The Bailout That Isn't Enough
Trump has floated a farmer bailout of up to $14 billion. For context, American agricultural exports to China alone were worth $26 billion a year before the trade wars. A $14 billion bailout is not a solution. It is a check written to cover the damage from a fire the administration is still setting.
Sources
- Farmers hit hard as Iran war sends fertilizer prices soaring, PBS NewsHour / YouTube
- The rising cost of fertilizer and fuel prices is pushing some farmers to the brink, NPR
- Seventy percent of U.S. farmers can't afford fertilizer as Iran war drives urea up 49%, Moneywise
- Farm Bankruptcies Spike 46% From Last Year, House Democrats
- Is America on the cusp of a farm crisis?, NBC News
- Tracking the Farm Economy in Crisis, Farm Aid
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