GFB News Magazine

Southern farmers hit hard by rising fuel and fertilizer costs

by R. Faith Parhum
AFBF Economist

Posted on June 1, 2026 7:25 AM

Jennifer Whittaker contributed Georgia-specific information to this article.

Results of a nationwide survey American Farm Bureau Federation conducted April 3-11 show high fertilizer costs are hitting Southern farmers hard, with 78% of farmers in the organization’s Southern Region, which includes Georgia, saying they can’t afford all of the fertilizer they need to grow their crops this year. Georgia had 121 responses to the survey; 88 Georgians said they can't afford all of the fertilizer they need to grow their crops this year.

According to the survey, 94% of the 5,700 respondents from all 50 states & Puerto Rico reported their overall financial situation has worsened or remained the same since 2025. In Georgia, 95.5% of the respondents reported their financial situation has worsened or remained the same. 

• Fertilizer pre-booking rates vary by region. Just 19% of Southern producers reported securing fertilizer purchases ahead of the season, compared to 30% in the Northeast, 31% in the West and 67% in the Midwest. This reflects regional differences in planting decision timelines and exposure to recent price increases. Only 9.1% of Georgia responses reported prebooking fertilizer. 

Reasons Georgia farmers gave for not pre-booking were: uncertainty about 2026 crop acreage plans; prices too high/waiting for prices to decrease; farmers cannot prebook without accepting delivery, not having infrastructure to store fertilizers; and not having the cash or operating loans to prebook.

• Fertilizer affordability challenges are most acute in the South and Northeast but remain a concern for all farmers. Around 70% of respondents report being unable to afford all the fertilizer they need. In Georgia, 74.4% of respondents said they will not be able to afford all the fertilizer they need. 

• Farm diesel prices have increased 46% since the end of February, raising costs for fieldwork, fertilizer transport and irrigation during planting and growing seasons. AFBF analysis shows average prices for fertilizer components in the Midwest increased as follows from the end of February to early April: urea 47%, anhydrous ammonia 30%, liquid nitrogen 18%, potash 3% & Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) 3%.

• Nationwide, nearly six in 10 farmers report worsening finances, reflecting rising fertilizer and fuel costs during spring planting and underscoring the urgent need for immediate economic assistance to keep farms operating. In Georgia, 92 farmers who took the survey said their finances are worse than last year.

AFBF economists say if farmers can’t afford full fertilizer application rates, they may reduce nutrient use or shift acreage decisions, which increases the risk of lower yields and reduced production potential this year. 

Georgia farms are being affected

“Before planting season started, my family’s intention was to increase our corn acreage because corn prices were better than peanuts, but since the first week of March, fertilizer prices have gone up astronomically, so we’ve had to cut our corn acreage by about 40%,” said Screven County farmer Ben Boyd. “Our fertilizer prices rose from 55 cents a pound to 96 cents a pound in the middle of planting corn so we’re having to shift some of our intended corn acreage to other crops like soybeans, cotton and peanuts.”

In Thomas County, the Hurst-Hardy Family is facing similar tough decisions on their farm. They cut their corn acreage from 575 acres to 320 after the price of fertilizer went up.

“It’s a very scary time right now,” said Julie Hurst Hardy, who farms with her dad and brother. “Every day we’re banging our heads against the wall trying to figure out what we can do to make it to wheat harvest to get a little bit of money to make it to our corn harvest, to get a little bit of money to make it to our peanut and cotton harvest. It’s a very, very vicious cycle right now.”   

Hardy said her family is reducing their cotton acreage by about 690 acres this year and are instead planting more soybeans.

“Soybeans is the only thing that looks like it might be making some money,” Hurst Hardy said. Her family is considering if there are fertilizer components they can leave off some of their crops and still break even.

Going into this crop season, the challenging financial situation farmers were in was already affecting farmers’ planting and purchasing decisions. Rapidly changing fertilizer and fuel prices tied to the Middle East conflict added additional strain. 

AFBF economists say farm diesel prices rose 46% since the end of February, marking the largest month-to-month percentage increase in diesel prices from 2009 to 2026. Fuel is a major operating expense during spring planting affecting the cost to run planting equipment, irrigate where water is needed to get the crop up, and to transport farm supplies.

“Diesel prices have increased a little more than two dollars a gallon for me since the first week of March. When we started planting our crops in early March, we were paying about $2.80 a gallon for fuel and now it’s at least $5 a gallon. The higher cost of fuel touches everything we do on the farm,” Boyd said. 

Bottom line

The duration of the Strait of Hormuz closure will ultimately determine farm production expenses in coming months – a variable that greatly impacts farm margins given historically low crop prices, AFBF economists say. While the U.S. is the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, fuel and fertilizer markets remain globally interconnected.

Countries exposed to instability in and around the Persian Gulf account for about 49% of global urea exports and about 30% of global ammonia exports. These products are essential for crop production, so, disruptions in the region can influence fertilizer availability and prices. 

Survey results suggest many farmers are adjusting fertilizer purchases and application decisions due to rising costs. If disruptions persist, these adjustments could affect yields, acreage decisions and overall production potential in the 2026 crop year. 

Domestic food production is national security

In March, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall sent a letter to President Donald Trump and testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee asking the federal government to ease farmers’ financial challenges, particularly those related to fertilizer and fuel costs. 

AFBF recommended a number of actions to mitigate fertilizer supply and price challenges, including using the U.S. Navy to facilitate safe passage through Hormuz, leveraging federal tools to address insurance & financing barriers to shipping, improving domestic transportation, and suspending tariffs on imported fertilizer products.

The Trump administration has announced plans to help ensure the safe passage of fuel shipments through key global shipping lanes. AFBF maintains this protection should include ag input supplies such as fertilizer. On March 18, President Trump issued an executive order suspending the Jones Act for 60 days. The Jones Act requires goods transported between U.S. ports to be done on U.S.-built vessels sailing under the U.S. flag. 

Given the worsening financial conditions on the farm, support is building for additional economic aid for farmers to help offset economic hardships made more challenging by recent increases in fertilizer and fuel prices.