Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that the USDA and other agencies are working on short-term measures to help lower fertilizer costs and that an announcement could come soon. She said addressing fertilizer prices will require a significant, coordinated effort across the federal government and warned the long-term price outlook is a serious concern for U.S. producers. Daily interagency calls among agencies, she said, are part of that effort.
Rollins said the administration has been holding frequent discussions with the White House and with EPA, DHS, Commerce and Treasury to pursue an "all-government approach for fertilizer." Her testimony emphasized coordination at the top levels of those agencies rather than a single-agency fix. She did not provide a timeline for decisions but said work has been intensive and ongoing.
Rollins raised national security concerns tied to the U.S. supply chain, telling lawmakers: "The fact that we have off shored so much of our fertilizer over the last decade or so is astounding to me. It is a national security issue when we are relying on China and Russia for fertilizer." She framed reliance on foreign suppliers as a factor that worsens both short-term price spikes and long-term market vulnerability. Reliance on China, Russia
Possible actions
The secretary did not enumerate specific policies but said options under consideration may include funding measures. Rollins suggested the announcement could include some form of additional funding to address supply and cost pressures, though she did not state an amount or program structure. Any new resources would likely be paired with interagency steps to ease near-term shortages or shipping and import disruptions.
Rollins also warned senators that correcting the underlying market structure will take time, even as the administration pursues immediate relief for producers facing high input bills. She described the effort as both short-term mitigation and part of a broader push to strengthen domestic fertilizer production and supply resilience. Additional funding possible
During the hearing she repeated that specific details remain under development and that officials will announce measures when they are ready. Rollins said an announcement could come soon.
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