Republican representatives desperate to curtail out-of-control fertilizer prices sent President Joe Biden a letter Tuesday urging him to adopt measures common during the Trump era.
Items on the list would run afoul of Biden’s “green” agenda, so the likelihood of seeing relief appears to be slim. The proposed measures include increasing gas and mineral production and approving export permits for liquefied natural gas.
“For the last 12 months, people have complained about the supply chain problem, but the biggest one is common sense arriving in D.C.,” Rep. Matt Rosendale, a Montana Republican, told the Washington Examiner. “This administration has not shown any capacity for easing any of these self-inflicted problems.”
The letter, authored by Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, said, “Ongoing supply-chain bottlenecks and the rising cost of energy are among the factors sending fertilizer prices soaring, and disruptions stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will only compound the problem. As a result, Americans will pay more at restaurants, grocery store, and elsewhere.”
FARMERS TURN TO SOYBEANS OVER CORN AS FERTILIZER PRICES SPIKE
The letter, signed by 96 GOP lawmakers, named various fertilizer ingredients that have risen by up to 203% since January 2021.
If Biden allows even one item in the list, such as abolishing the cross-country vaccine mandate, it would be a substantial benefit, Rosendale said.
“We have estimated 16,000 truckers transport products back and forth against Canadian border — $650 billion dollars a year of product,” he said.
America’s border counties rely on fertilizer shipped from Canada. Many of the truckers will retire rather than agree to the vaccine, and as a result, farms could go out of business, he said.
“I just hope that Biden does not take any steps to make things worse at this point,” Rosendale said.
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Because they require significantly less fertilizer, farmers nationwide are planting more soybeans than corn for only the third time in history.
