Biden-Harris administration partners with farmers to expand innovative domestic fertilizer production

At the annual Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is partnering with American business owners to expand innovative domestic fertilizer production, creating jobs in rural communities and strengthening local economies.

The Department is awarding US$35 million for seven projects in seven states through the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP), which is funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation. This programme provides grants to independent business owners to help them modernise equipment, adopt new technologies, build production plants and more. This funding advances President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to grow the nation’s economy from the middle out and bottom up.

“The Biden-Harris Administration continues to make innovative investments that bolster rural communities and support farmers, ranchers and small business owners,” Secretary Vilsack said. “The investments announced today will increase domestic fertilizer production and strengthen our supply chain, while creating good-paying jobs to benefit all Americans.”

To date, USDA has invested US$286.6 million in 64 projects across 32 states through FPEP. These projects have created 768 new jobs in communities across the country and will increase domestic fertilizer production by over 5.6 million t.

These investments will boost domestic fertilizer production and lower costs for U.S. farmers. For example:

• Dramm Corp. in Wisconsin will use a US$776 000 grant to increase their production capacity and expand their network of customers and farmers while reducing their carbon footprint and increasing employee safety. Using fish offal collected from commercial and sport fishermen, Dramm produces a liquid fish fertilizer suitable for organic and traditional farming while keeping millions of pounds of waste out of landfills and fresh waterways.
• In Virginia, AdvanSix, an ammonium sulfate producer, will expand a facility with an almost US$12 million grant. The company currently provides 31 400 ag producers with ammonium sulfate on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Through this project, AdvanSix will expand their operational capacity by 195 000 tpy, increasing total production to more than 36 000 producers.

USDA is also making awards to facilities in California, Iowa, New York, Oregon and Tennessee.

President Biden and USDA created FPEP to combat issues facing American farmers due to rising fertilizer prices, which more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 due to a variety of factors such as war in Ukraine and a lack of competition in the fertilizer industry. The Administration committed up to US$900 million through the Commodity Credit Corporation for FPEP. Funding supports long-term investments that will strengthen supply chains, create new economic opportunities for American businesses, and support climate-smart innovation.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/special-reports/29082024/biden-harris-administration-partners-with-farmers-to-expand-innovative-domestic-fertilizer-production/