An eastern Iowa farmer says today’s fertilizer prices are not sustainable.
“Farmers are basically going broke right now.”
Lance Lillibridge of Vinton tells Brownfield that was his message to the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission at an event in Texas on Thursday.
“Our input costs are out of control and they have been for many years. This isn’t an Iran problem. This is a problem that’s been going on for quite some time.”
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson met with hundreds of farmers and ag stakeholders at a farm near McKinney. Lillibridge, who helped moderate the discussion, says farmers are reaching a breaking point.
“We just need the behavior to change, but more than anything, we need more competition in this market. You know, there’s just no competition right now and that’s our biggest problem.”
He says the chairman was receptive to the farmers’ concerns and questions.
“Him and his staff there had many, many questions for growers. And not only growers. We had some retailers there too, so it was a very good meeting. A lot of information flowing from the countryside into the FTC.”
During the meeting, Chairman Ferguson announced the agency is launching a formal investigation into possible anti-competitive behavior in the U.S. fertilizer industry.
