The vice president of government affairs for The Fertilizer Institute says including potash on the official critical minerals list could help increase access for farmers.
Ed Thomas says the U.S. relies on foreign adversaries for its current fertilizer supply.
“It could reduce that time to get additional domestic supply on the market,” he says. “Just digging through that processing, it takes some of our mines decades to get additional permits. By reducing that time, we can increase the amount of supply that we have here in the US.”
He tells Brownfield the distinction could provide some additional trade protections.
“If trade routes are impacted or if there’s export restrictions, like China has done in the past and has currently export restrictions on it, if they strategically limit exports during the growing season, that impacts the whole year,” he says.
Thomas says in an effort to reduce rising input costs, the organization is also asking for phosphate to be added to the list.
