At a Michigan State University visit on April 13, 2026, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said the government was working with fertilizer companies and that USDA and lawmakers were considering packages to ease farmers’ high input costs. She predicted fertilizer costs would fall after the Iran conflict ended, but the event report does not show that a relief package was delivered or that prices later fell.
What Rollins said about fertilizer costs
Rollins made the remarks during a visit to Michigan State University’s Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center, where she and U.S. Representative Tom Barrett announced that applications were opening for two specialty-crop programs. Asked what federal support was available to farmers facing fertilizer expenses, she acknowledged high input costs and said USDA and lawmakers were considering relief packages. She also said the federal government was working with fertilizer companies and cited a 60-day waiver of Jones Act enforcement. The event report does not quantify the waiver’s effect on fertilizer costs or establish what happened to prices after her remarks. Michigan Advance reported the exchange on April 13, 2026.
Rollins described farmers as under financial pressure, saying, “While the U.S. government continues to support our farmers, the farmers continue to barely survive year to year.” Her comments were a statement of the administration’s position at the time, not evidence that a specific fertilizer-relief payment or price reduction followed.
Why farmers raised the issue
Mark Zacharda, identified in the report as a farmer from Shiawassee County, said fertilizer costs were rising on top of other increased farm inputs while commodity prices were flat or lower. He said, “The cost of fertilizer has been skyrocketing since this war started, adding to the already increased input costs that we’ve been facing.” That is his account of farm conditions, not a measured fertilizer-price series.
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Zacharda also warned that financial strain and farm closures could eventually contribute to higher grocery prices. The report records his concern; it does not establish a direct or quantified link between the fertilizer costs discussed at the event and retail food prices.
The specialty-crop funding announced at the visit
The applications announcement concerned research and block-grant programs for specialty crops, not direct fertilizer assistance. Michigan Advance reported that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act increased funding for both programs:
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| Specialty Crop Research Initiative | $80 million to $175 million | Michigan Advance reported the increase as part of the act’s funding changes. |
| Specialty Crop Block Grant | $85 million to $100 million | Michigan Advance reported the increase as part of the act’s funding changes. |
These figures describe reported program funding changes, not amounts available to an individual farmer for fertilizer. Rollins called Michigan “ground zero for specialty crops: cherries, asparagus, nursery, floriculture and so many other fruits and vegetables.”
What later Senate remarks add—and what they do not prove
At a June 10, 2026 USDA oversight hearing, Senator Amy Klobuchar cited broader concerns about farm finances and fertilizer supply. Her remarks are an official record of what she said, but they do not independently verify the underlying estimates.
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- Klobuchar said the Farm Bureau estimated that 70% of farmers could not afford all the fertilizer they needed, and that 94% of surveyed farmers said their financial situation had worsened or flatlined over the prior year. Her remarks do not provide the survey instrument.
- She said nearly half of global urea exports and 30% of global ammonia exports used in nitrogen fertilizer supply chains move through the Strait of Hormuz. Those figures are presented here as her claims, not independently verified trade statistics.
- She also attributed nearly $1 billion in added costs for critical inputs—including fertilizer, seed, machinery and chemicals—from February through October of the previous year to IEEPA tariffs. This is a claim in her committee remarks, not an independently verified calculation.
Klobuchar’s June 10 opening remarks provide the context for those statements. They do not establish what fertilizer currently costs, whether the estimates apply to every farm, or whether the policies discussed in April produced measurable savings.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What farmers can conclude from the exchange
The April visit documents federal officials discussing possible responses and a farmer describing pressure from rising input costs. It does not establish a completed relief package, a specific amount of fertilizer aid, or a later price decline. The specialty-crop funding announcement was separate from direct fertilizer relief, and the June Senate figures should be read as attributed estimates and claims rather than verified measures of current farm costs.
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