Family Farm Action Alliance, a Missouri-based group, last week sent a letter to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice calling for an investigation into the fertilizer sector on the suspicion of anti-competitive practices.

“Today just two companies supply the entirety of North America with potash, a potassium-based fertilizer: Nutrien Limited and the Mosaic Company,” the groups noted.

“In 2019, a mere four corporations represented 75% of the production and sale of nitrogen-based fertilizer in the U.S. Today, the four dominant firms in this sector are CF Industries, Nutrien, Koch, and Yara-USA. According to experts, market abuses are likely when the concentration ratio of the top four firms (CR4) exceeds 40%.”

“If these fertilizer corporations are tying the price of their products to the farmer’s ability to pay rather than supply and demand, that equates to an exercise of near-monopoly power,” said Philip Howard of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems.

“Left unchecked, this allows concentrated corporations to exact additional tolls from the supply chain, leaving the farmer with no hope of retaining any gains they produce.”

“Out here in farm country, we can tell that something stinks about this fertilizer deal,” said Joe Maxwell, president of Family Farm Action Alliance. “The DOJ has the power and the authority to investigate fully, and American farmers deserve nothing less.”

In a news release, the Family Farm Action Alliance noted that its “long-term goal is to transform the food and farm system, shifting government support toward programs that reward farmers for the use of regenerative practices that use less fertilizer — and eliminating the power corporations currently have to shape the markets to their liking.”