Press Release:  Don’s Destruction: Illinois Farmers Lose in the Middle of Trump’s War on Iran

Springfield, IL— Following Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran, farmers across Illinois fear what their harvest will look like in the fall. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off exports including fertilizers that are vital for corn and soybean production, and causing fertilizer prices in Illinois to skyrocket 42% in just three weeks. The rise in costs is hitting our farmers especially hard as Illinois’s soybean and corn production accounts for $21 billion in agricultural market value.

In response, Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Lisa Hernandez said the following:

“Protecting our farmers was one of Donald Trump’s many campaign promises. He lied. Farmers, the backbone of our state’s economy, are unable to fully tend to their fields due to rising costs and strapped supplies. Illinois Democrats are continuing the fight to protect working families from the fallout of this administration’s reckless war of choice.”

Key excerpts from Chicago Tribune: Illinois farmers brace for another bruising season as Iran war spikes fertilizer prices

By Christiana Freitag

• “We’ll put some fertilizer on after the crop comes up,” Bushmeyer said. “But if the price stays where it is now, we may not. We may need to sacrifice yield for it, but it’s a balancing act.”

• From large commercial operations to small-scale organic plots, farmers across Illinois and the country are trying to weather the sharp spike in agricultural costs driven by a conflict thousands of miles from their fields.

• “We’re at the mercy of the weather and the government,” Bushmeyer said. “And we’re not sure which is worse.”

• “According to a recent report by Farmdoc Daily, a research publication by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, urea prices in Illinois have jumped 42% in the past three weeks. That means farmers can expect to pay as much as $823 per ton of fertilizer compared to $579 per ton before the conflict.”

• “Not having that (fertilizer) source locked in is a little concerning,” said Yeley, who advocates for farmers in his county as president of the Clark County Farm Bureau. “It’s already gone up 20% from where we were before this (war) started.”
• “Between the fertilizer and fuel issue and other input costs, we’ve not really recovered from that, and now we’re right back to where we were again,” Yeley said.

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