70% of US Farms Can't Afford Fertilizer as More Energy Facilities Hit by Fires

Daily Digest
, , , , ,
1

Originally published at: https://peakprosperity.com/70-of-us-farms-cant-afford-fertilizer-as-more-energy-facilities-hit-by-fires/

Economy

An American Farm Bureau Federation survey from April 3-11 found that 70% of over 5,700 U.S. farmers across all states and Puerto Rico said they cannot afford all the needed fertilizer for 2026 due to high prices. Nearly 80% in the South, 69% in the Northeast, 66% in the West, and 48% in the Midwest reported issues. Nitrogen fertilizer prices rose over 30% since the February 28 Hormuz conflict began, urea by 47%, and combined fuel-fertilizer costs by 20-40%.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened a new portal to refund up to $175 billion in tariffs ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court on February 20 in Learning Resources v. Trump. The 6-3 decision, written by Chief Justice Roberts and joined by Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson, held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize presidential tariffs, as Article I, Section 8 vests taxing power in Congress. It invalidated April 2025 “reciprocal” Liberation Day tariffs and fentanyl tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, which collected $166-179 billion across 330,000 importers and 53 million entries, per Penn-Wharton. Some critics contended that the refunds mainly aid large importers over U.S. consumers. Phase 1 covers $127 billion in unliquidated or recent entries.

In crypto news, MicroStrategy bought 34,164 Bitcoin for $2.54 billion at an average of $74,395 per coin from April 13-19. This was its third-largest purchase by coin count, after 55,500 and 51,780 BTC in November 2024. Holdings reached 815,061 BTC, bought for $61.56 billion at an average of $75,527. Over 85% was funded by Stretch perpetual preferred security, generating $2.18 billion, plus $366 million from Class A stock sales. Recent Stretch purchases included 7,741 BTC on April 13 and 9,364 on April 14 via at-the-market programs. Critics warned of potential instability from the debt-financed accumulation strategy. The firm plans semi-monthly Stretch dividends and saw its market cap exceed $54 billion, nearing net asset value.

Energy

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation declared force majeure on crude oil and refined product shipments.

Meanwhile, President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to sign energy-related memorandums. Collectively, these memorandums are aimed at expanding U.S. domestic energy production, refining, infrastructure, and supply chains by declaring them essential to national defense and directing the use of Defense Production Act authorities to accelerate their development and address the national energy emergency. Specifically, they cover:

  • Domestic Petroleum Production, Refining, and Logistics Capacity
  • Coal Supply Chains and Baseload Power Generation Capacity
  • Natural Gas Transmission, Processing, Storage, and Liquefied Natural Gas Capacity
  • Grid Infrastructure, Equipment, and Supply Chain Capacity

Critics argued the measures favor fossil fuels over renewable energy development.

In other news, three more incidents involving various energy facilities have occurred within the past 24 hours, adding to the string of seemingly coincidental incidents affecting worldwide energy infrastructure. The latest are in Russia, Bucharest, and Texas. Since April 15, disruptions have occurred in Australia, Pakistan, Russia, and India.

In Russia, Ukraine reportedly conducted a second drone attack on the Tuapse Refinery in Krasnodar Krai, days after an initial strike that caused a fire and an oil spill covering 10,000 square meters in the Black Sea and into the Tuapse River, where 750 meters of containment booms and five oil recovery devices were deployed. OSINT sources reported thick smoke plumes extending over 270 km from the fires. Ukraine also claimed strikes on two oil depots in nearby Crimea.

In Bucharest, an explosion at the CET Vest thermal power plant has damaged three electrical transformers and caused a fire involving 30 tons of oil. ELCEN, the plant operator, attributed the incident to an electrical defect. Firefighters used water and foam to extinguish flames and partially control the blaze, leaving five pieces of equipment to monitor and cool the area by morning.

In Texas, an oil well blowout in rural Nacogdoches County caused an explosion before midnight on Monday. Authorities issued evacuations along County Road 561 and shelter-in-place orders for nearby roads. Workers evacuated with no injuries reported. Agencies, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management, responded and monitored air quality, reporting no immediate danger. A Houston company worked to suppress the fire. Authorities briefly closed FM 226 and noted potential disruptions to Woden ISD bus routes.

Geopolitics

Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby told the Ukraine Defense Contact Group that European nations should accelerate a transition to “NATO 3.0,” with primary responsibility for conventional defense of the continent, rebuilding munitions stocks, removing protectionist barriers, and developing a defense industrial base. Colby reportedly stressed that deeds matter more than aspirations for credible deterrence, including arming Ukraine via the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List program. He described securing the Strait of Hormuz as critical for U.S.-NATO relations. Some observers described the demands as hypocritical amid U.S. requests for European aid in Middle East conflicts. Colby warned that failure to act could lead the U.S. to reprioritize away from Europe or adopt a pay-to-play model, excluding non-contributors from decisions and Article 5 support.

The U.S. suspended dollar shipments to Iraq’s Central Bank and security coordination until an acceptable government forms, according to reports. Resumption is conditioned on disclosing the perpetrators of the U.S. embassy bombing. Iraq’s oil revenues flow to a Federal Reserve account under a 2003 Coalition Provisional Authority order. The Treasury approves monthly transfers, flown in as cash for salaries, food, and medicine. Such transfers have been delayed previously over issues including Iran sanctions. The Coordination Framework Shia bloc, with 185 of 329 parliamentary seats, must nominate a prime minister by April 26 after initially selecting Nouri al-Maliki, who is opposed by Washington, along with incumbent Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. The Central Bank of Iraq rejected reports of the suspension.

Artificial Intelligence

The National Security Agency is using Anthropic’s Mythos Preview, its most powerful model, restricted to about 40 organizations, reportedly due to offensive cyber capabilities. It is used primarily for scanning security vulnerabilities. This follows the Department of War’s February designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk over its refusal to remove ethical guardrails for military use, which prompted a lawsuit. The designation applies to the Department of War, barring contractors from Claude models, including Mythos, in offensive or surveillance contexts. The White House directed federal agencies to use Mythos. Treasury and Federal Reserve warned banks of AI attack risks after red-teaming. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday to discuss government deployment and security. The UK’s AI Security Institute also has access.

Health

FDA vaccine chief Dr. Vinay Prasad issued a memo attributing at least 10 child deaths to COVID shots, which he called a profound revelation and an underestimate with implications for vaccine policy. Skeptics maintained that post-vaccination death reports align with background rates without proven causality. This follows a September analysis of 25 pediatric deaths post-vaccination, prepared for CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices but not presented. An internal meeting reportedly saw FDA scientist Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg face pushback from regulators on her evidence of fatalities after vaccination, as reported by STAT on November 13, 2025.

Sources

Russia’s Tuapse Refinery Hit by Second Ukrainian Drone Attack Amid Black Sea Oil Spill Crisis

Russia’s Tuapse Refinery Attacked 2nd Time In Days, While Battling Oil Spill Into Black Sea

Source

US Final Warning: Accelerate NATO 3.0 or Face Trump’s Punishments

This might be the US’ final warning before it takes drastic action to punish those who continue to reject Trump’s demands.

Source

US Halts Dollar Flows to Iraq Until ‘Acceptable’ Government Forms

Washington cuts flow of US dollars to Iraqi central bank until ‘acceptable’ government formed

Source

Kuwait Invokes Force Majeure on Oil as US Seizure Reignites Hormuz Crisis

Kuwait has declared force majeure on shipments of crude oil and refined products after disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz prevented some vessels from entering the Persian Gulf.

Source

70% of U.S. Farmers Can’t Afford Enough Fertilizer for 2026 Amid Hormuz Crisis

70 percent of U.S. farmers say that they will not be able to purchase all of the fertilizer that they need in 2026

Source

From Supply Chain Risk to NSA Staple: Anthropic’s Mythos

From “Supply-Chain Risk” to Strategic Asset

Source

Strategy Tops 800,000 BTC After Third-Largest Purchase in History

Saylor’s Strategy Holdings Top 800,000 Bitcoin After 3rd Biggest Purchase In History

Source

FDA Vaccine Chief Attributes 10 Child Deaths to Covid Shots

U.S. regulators have formally attributed at least 10 of these children’s deaths to Covid vaccination.

Source

Evacuations Underway After Nacogdoches County Oil Well Explosion

Evacuations underway after Nacogdoches Co. oil well explosion

Source

Explosion Damages Three Transformers at Bucharest Power Plant, Sparking Massive Fire

Explosion hits thermal power plant in Romania: three transformers damaged, massive fire breaks out

Source

Trump Cites Defense Production Act to Sign Energy Memorandums

Trump cites defense production act to sign energy-related memorandums

Source

$175B Tariff Refunds Portal Opens After Supreme Court Ruling

U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened the CAPE portal to begin refunding up to 175 billion dollars in tariffs the Supreme Court ruled unlawful on February 20.

Source

In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: OSINTdefender, KyleJGlen, Oilprice.com, Huzaifa Shafqat, Global Markets Investor, HotNews.ro, Libertatea, Reuters, Radio Free NAFO Jack’s House, @BMedicky, @saylor, @PeterSchiff, Vince Sheetz, Brownstone Institute, and @VickiCoyle10019.

1 Like
2

A Michael Synder article? Me and Shining Hector would like to have a word with you! :partying_face:

3

The US propaganda is that Ukraine is holding its own and that Russia is taking a heavy toll. The reality is just the opposite. Ukraine has taken a heavy toll in the US backed Ukraine war against Russia. The Duran Boys say that the dead soldier swap is about 10 Ukrainian dead soldiers for every dead Russian soldier. That’s a 10:1 kill rate. As they say in Latin America: “No Bueno”.

It appears that all those fighting age men who fled Ukraine into Europe are being called back to Ukraine and Ursula von der Leyen also wants those Ukrainian men to return to Ukraine to fight a war they can’t win against Russia.

1 Like
4

Trump is going to face the same problem if he tries a land war in the Middle East. There will suddenly be missing men. Can’t say as I blame any of the Ukrainians who don’t want to die for this bullshit war.

6 Likes
5

https://x.com/bobmackin/status/2046337061612146803?s=20

6

What does this mean? Is it a positive?

7

I am very suspicious of Saylor (MicroStrategy). You?

8

This might be the US’ final warning before it takes drastic action to punish those who continue to reject Trump’s demands.

Are these the same people who tried to kill him? Maybe he is in fact going after them, and in a big way? Is he starving Europe out?

9

I priced granular nitrogen fertilizer the day the war started, it went up from $650 a ton to $750. No idea where it is now. I am in cattle country, what’s left of it. I have talked about my focus on other forum topics, on growing everything my cattle need on my farm, goal is to replace the glyphosate laden cattle cubes. I am small scale enough that I am going the manure route vs fertilizer’s. I have been collecting the manure from my hogs and cattle and chickens and building large compost piles. I add old hay add organic matter.
I reached out to a couple neighbors, I just picked up a load of cow manure from one, he filled my 14’ dump trailer, that’s a 300+ cubic foot load. He can fill it 3-4 more times. That combined with my own manure piles and I can easily fertilize my sorghum and cow pea plots. I just purchased a 100 cubic foot manure spreader yesterday, now that I have the manure to put it to use.

I grazed my American Guinea Hogs on cowpea last summer, I inoculated the cow pea seed so it fixes nitrogen, the nitrogen from that crop along with the urine and manure left by the hogs made the ground so rich i didn’t have to fertilize the fall annual rye grass I planted for them to forage on last fall and over the winter, they are still on it right now, 6 months later. I will replant more cow pea and sugar sorghum mixed for them to forage on this summer and into the fall. I am building soil and nutrients without any chemical inputs.

Learning from that experience, I am going to spread manure over the plots were I am growing the sugar sorghum and cow pea, which I will harvest, chop, pack into 55 gallon sealed drums so it will ferment, I hope to end up with a silage that the combined protein from the sorghum and peas will equal or surpass the protein content of the store bought cattle cubes. Plus the fermentation provides many positive things for the cattle’s digestive system, the same way fermented cabbage does for us.

We have become to reliant on chemicals in every aspect of our life, many of which are killing us slowly. Glyphosate being #1 in my book. Its in the wheat grown in the US, so its in virtually every meal we eat. Its in the corn, so its in many of our foods as well as all of the animal feeds. It doesn’t go away quickly, I used horse manure when i first built my garden beds, it came from a stable where they boarded horses. I could not get any legumes to grow in my garden for years, I learned later that the grain that was fed to the horses, the glyphosate that was in those grains went through the horse, into its manure. It was still strong enough it stunted the growth of any legume in the garden beds I use that manure in for at least 3 seasons. It effected other plants as well, just had a more dramatic effect on the beans and peas.
I think going small scale is the only solution, so we can return to natural ways, the science is there. Just ask anybody that is into permaculture.

10 Likes
10

Many of the farmers I know pre-bought fertilizer for this year, in 2025. We are also one of the few places in the mid west not in a drought.

2 Likes
11

Food for thought: I grew up with grandparents in Oklahoma who had land enough to raise chickens, fruit/nut trees and gardens where there was annual canning, large deep freezer and the old fashion pressure cooker. The central home AC was a unit that fit in the window and one the high ticket items was a black and white TV. That is since long gone. A few years ago a friend who does or did ranching in Arkansas was dealing with water rights. It would take hours to map the fertilizer and energy, etc. but key words I think would be farming consolidation.

http://acres.com/ Map Highlight: Foreign Owned Agricultural Land Map

NACo Primer for Counties: Foreign Ownership of U.S. Agricultural Land | National Association of Counties ….Entities from Canada and European nations represent the largest foreign owners of U.S. agricultural land. Although Chinese holdings account for less than one percent of total foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land, the amount of land owned or leased by Chinese-associated individuals or entities has increased by over 400 percent from 2010 to 2021. …

Foreign Ownership and Holdings of U.S. Agricultural Land | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
The 117th Congress introduced a range of proposals to restrict foreign investment and ownership in the U.S. food and agriculture sector and enacted certain new reporting requirements for…

USDA Lawfare Submission Portal | USDA
What is Agricultural Lawfare?

Easier said than done.. Fertilizer also impacts water like the Indian River Lagoon and how treated waste water is disposed of from gov/commercial entities of all sizes along with septic tanks on the Florida Space/Treasure coast where I have lived for over 20 years. ..**** This is what came up in AI based on prompts.**

Fertilizer used to be a routine farm input. Today, it is a strategic risk factor that affects every farm in our region — and by extension, every county that depends on stable food systems, clean water, and predictable land‑use patterns.

First, what’s happening. Fertilizer prices now swing 30 to 80 percent in a single season. These spikes are driven by global natural gas markets, geopolitical instability, and the fact that the U.S. imports much of its potash and phosphate. Even when fertilizer is available globally, local delivery can be delayed by rail congestion, trucking shortages, and port bottlenecks.

At the same time, the fertilizer industry itself is highly concentrated. A small number of global firms control nitrogen, phosphate, and potash. That means limited competition and very little price relief for farmers.

Second, who this hits the hardest. Small farms pay the highest per‑unit prices and have no ability to hedge or pre‑buy. They are the first to face shortages and the last to receive deliveries. For many, fertilizer volatility is now a survival‑level threat.

Mid‑size farms — the backbone of regional food systems — are squeezed between retail and bulk markets. They’re too big to buy retail, too small to negotiate discounts. Fertilizer volatility pushes many of them toward selling or leasing their land.

Large and corporate farms, by contrast, negotiate bulk pricing, hedge fertilizer like a commodity, and build on‑site storage. For them, fertilizer volatility is manageable — and in some cases, a competitive advantage.

The result is predictable: fertilizer instability accelerates consolidation. Small farms exit. Mid‑size farms get absorbed. Large operators expand. And counties lose working farmland.

Third, why this matters for local government. When farms exit, we don’t just lose food production. We see:

  • More pressure to convert farmland to residential, industrial, or solar uses.
  • Fewer vendors at farmers markets and weaker local food systems.
  • Increased nutrient runoff risks as unmanaged land changes hands.
  • Higher long‑term costs for lagoon restoration and stormwater management.
  • Greater dependence on imported food during supply‑chain disruptions.

Fertilizer volatility is no longer a farm‑level problem — it is a county‑level and state‑level risk.

Finally, what counties and the state can do. There are practical steps that strengthen resilience:

  1. Support regional fertilizer access — including cooperative purchasing and shared storage.
  2. Protect working lands — through agricultural easements and zoning that reduces conversion pressure.
  3. Strengthen local food systems — by expanding local procurement for schools, hospitals, and county agencies.
  4. Align nutrient management with water‑quality goals — supporting precision agriculture and regenerative practices.
  5. Monitor national security developments — because fertilizer supply is now tied to critical infrastructure and foreign dependency.

The key takeaway is simple: Fertilizer instability is reshaping Florida’s agricultural landscape. Counties that plan for this now will be better positioned to protect working farms, local markets, water quality, and long‑term food security.

12

We might have 190,000 infantry troops. Probably more like 150,000. We don’t have the military capacity to put them en masse on the ground in Iran. The best we could do right now is drop them from aircraft. So now we’re looking at maybe 20,000 paratroops that require two hundred C17’s to get all of them on the ground at one time. To get the rest on the ground they must be landed by C130’s. They can carry 100 infantry troops, requiring 1700 C130’s landing one after the other somewhere, providing them with close air support, logistics, and then dropping armor onto their locations via C5 and C17, not to mention the fuel for all the armored vehicles.

That into a country with 93 million people, one million active duty army, and half a million reserve forces, and terrain that is a nightmare to traverse.

We would need in reality at least half a million fully trained, supported infantrymen and THEN need to obtain, fully train at least a million more which takes more time than a Netflix series. We had about 600,000 infantry troops when we invaded Iraq and it’s about a quarter the size of Iran. In the history of air warfare, no country has been able to defeat an enemy with aviation only. The best result is bombing the crap out of any nation creates very strong resolve against the nation doing the bombing.

IOW, a ground invasion is NOT going to happen. Generals Keane, Kellogg and Caine and Lindsey Graham saying it’s doable like taking Khargg Island are smoking large amounts of Ganja.

3 Likes
13

Nothing to worry about - in good hands :grimacing:

https://x.com/zeeemedia/status/2047381764407013747?s=46

3 Likes
14

Does anyone remember Farm Aid .…In the 1980s, family farmers faced a crisis the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the Great Depression. Plummeting farm product prices and land values, rising interest rates, troubled credit markets and unfair lending practices pushed tens of thousands of farms out of business, forcing millions of people off their land…
Interesting ReadWillie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp organized the first Farm Aid concert in 1985
About Farm Aid

Save the Date!
We’re excited to share that Farm Aid 2026 will take place Saturday, September 26.
Mark it on your calendar and scroll down to sign up for our newsletter to get all the details, including location and lineup, soon.
About the Farm Aid Festival

The 2025 Farm Aid 40 took place at the Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Per the website - it is about inspiring people to “choose” family farm food.

3 Likes
15

There is no war. It’s genocide with a war mask. That’s the intended purpose.

2 Likes