This post is part of a series chronicling news coverage of rising gas prices in the United States. See more here.
KSNT 27 News reports on the spike in fertilizer costs from the Iran war harming Kansas farmers and potentially driving up beef prices
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From an April 30, 2026, video uploaded to the YouTube page of KSNT 27 News
REBEKAH CHUNG (KSNT 27 NEWS CAPITOL BUREAU CHIEF): Over in Valley Falls, Kansas, Craig Gigstad is tending to his soybean crop each day, and like other farmers, hoping for the best.
Because of how expensive it’s gotten, how much are you spending on fertilizer compared to what you would have spent maybe years ago?
CRAIG GIGSTAD: Well, let’s say in the — compared to five years ago, we’re over 100% higher.
CHUNG: Frustration is boiling over as tensions rise overseas. The Strait of Hormuz is a key pathway for phosphate fertilizer and key ingredients like sulfur, what Gigstad and farmers across the state need to help their crops grow.
GIGSTAD: There’s just so many factors we can’t control. Obviously, the weather, the markets. You know, we’re price takers, not price makers, and have been forever. And we study the markets all we can, but again, there’s things that we think we understand about the market, but then something will come along.
CHUNG: The price of fertilizer has skyrocketed since the strait’s been blocked. About one-third of the world’s nitrogen fertilizer passes through the shipping lane. It’s seen an even larger spike than phosphate, going up about $180 per ton.
For Jeff Albers in Denton, it’s spelling out uncertainty for his corn crop.
How do you feel about how that could potentially impact your yield in future years, not knowing whether those fertilizer prices will stabilize?
JEFF ALBERS: Well, that’s the joy of farming — we’re not going to know our fertilizer price next year. So, yeah, this right now might cause it to go up, but next year it’s going to be something totally different.
CHUNG: It’s another essential crop for the state that could have an even greater ripple effect on one of Kansas’ main exports. Ears of corn lined up in rows. Albers checking on each.
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CHUNG: But this year, his crop and pockets could be feeling light.
ALBERS: We just won’t have the yield to supply to bring us more revenue per acre to pay our bills.
CHUNG: Albers says he spent $103 per acre on fertilizer this year, about $25 more than last year.
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CHUNG: The corn doesn’t just get shipped on its own. It’s also one of the main food sources for the state’s cash cow, literally. Kansas makes more than $1 billion a year shipping beef. Less corn means less feed for cattle, whittling down one of the state’s largest exports and driving up prices.
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CHUNG: For farmers like Albers and Gigstad, it could cut into their bottom line, but it could also cut into the state’s. Rising fertilizer prices are already putting farmers at a high risk of bankruptcy. And as the state’s main economic driver takes a hit, the impact extends beyond the farm.
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CHUNG: For now, farmers are left trying to figure out how to navigate this hurdle, making sure their crops grow as their patience wears thin.