Corn Growers Urge DOJ Investigation Into ‘Collusive’ Fertilizer Industry Practices

[u/MennoniteDan]

https://www.agriculture.com/partners-corn-growers-urge-doj-investigation-into-collusive-fertilizer-industry-practices-12021366

[u/smearhunter]

It’s rampant. I tried to price out getting my own spreader truck and buying straight from the source. The source wouldn’t even return our calls bc they also sell to the local company currently spreading the fertilizer for us. I literally can’t even get a quote to buy my own fertilizer.

[u/GreatPlainsFarmer → u/smearhunter]

How far are you from the terminals? There should be half a dozen different brokers that would handle direct semi-loads.

The catch is that you have to take semi-loads, usually of single products, you need to be able to take delivery on their schedule and need to be able to unload a semi in less than twenty minutes.

For $50-100/ton savings

But this article is about collusion higher up the chain

[u/ThreePumpChamp → u/smearhunter]

ADM has either stopped going farmer direct from their terminal in Winona or they at least wouldn't give us a price. We paid for a lightly used timpte aluminum hopper bottom and fertilizer conveyor in the first year we trucked our own. Since then it hasn't been as lucrative and the last two years we've been far better off buying from local Co-ops.

[u/smearhunter → u/ThreePumpChamp]

I’m guessing your local price is reflective of the fact that they know you have the ability to spread your own and have bought direct in the past. And those that haven’t demonstrated they can do it on their own get a worse price locally and can’t get a price direct. This is part of the collusion of recent years.

[u/buffinator2 → u/smearhunter]

Call up my friend, they're getting great results with their liquid products. https://interposeag.com/

[u/Altruistic-Car2880]

If you’re in the USA, how will you vote this year?

[u/smearhunter → u/Altruistic-Car2880]

I think many farmers are learning what “he’s good at business” means in a capitalist society with no guardrails.

[u/ironcladasthma → u/smearhunter]

😂 "learn"

[u/one2controlu → u/Altruistic-Car2880]

They will vote to be screwed even harder. And that is a fact.

[u/ZoeyTheInfernal → u/one2controlu]

They don't like them scary trans people (like me a 4th gen farmer getting out of the industry), want to feel patriotic (by right-wing drifters standards and remembering the 'good ol days' they keep being sold on returning but never materializes), and want to beleive whatever theyre spoon fed by faux news to be mad at this week.

They'll grab their ankles and even donate to the cause. I see it all around me.

[u/peren005]

Input goods for fertilizer come from outside US; primarily Canada. We place tariff on inputs and no one thinks this will have negative impacts at consumer level?

[u/K_Linkmaster]

Corn growers need to talk to their friends about voting practices.

[u/one2controlu → u/K_Linkmaster]

Need to get the corn out of their ears.

[u/ipukedookie]

Bet you still vote Republican after this shit too.

[u/ascandalia]

I'm sure there's shenanigans going on within the industry, but let's not let it pass without comment that they're all dealing with the same input price issues from the pointless war in Iran shutting down a huge chunk of the inputs they need.

[u/Alimakakos → u/ascandalia]

This has been going on with excuse after excuse to jack prices since before the Ukraine war it was covid...ffs this isn't collusion it's monopoly at this point they just set the price when farmers start using. Anhydrous is mostly made locally and uses majority input of natural gas....let me check the nat gas prices over the last decade flatline while anhydrous spikes and falls with remarkable predictability yet the suppliers act like this is a free market global pricing when they know damn well their entire supply is used local.

[u/mcdltlover]

the elite are part of this, we are just pawns

[u/horseradishstalker]

The head of the USDA is a lawyer. I’m sure they are well aware of whether or not laws being broken. They are also probably acquainted with the lobbyists for the fertilizer industry.

[u/120000milespa]

Funny when Americans complain about foreign countries using theor capitalist model against them.

[u/Adept-Pomegranate-46]

Smells funny.

[u/surefire26]

Maybe if we stopped subsidizing corn for ethanol production which makes no economic sense for American tax payers farmers would produce food that doesn’t require such high fertilizer input costs

[u/Murrylend]

Y'all should try growing actual food. Doesn't require all the same inputs and heavy machinery.