(AURN News) — A new national poll is putting hard numbers to what farmers have been saying: the Iran war is hitting American agriculture hard, and the worst may be yet to come.
The American Farm Bureau Federation surveyed nearly 6,000 farmers last month and found seven in 10 say they cannot afford all the fertilizer they need to finish out the year.
In the South, the number jumps to eight in 10, a region where Black farmers, already fighting decades of federal discrimination, are now facing fuel and fertilizer costs running 50% above pre-war levels.
The Strait of Hormuz remains at the center of the crisis. Iran’s blockade of the critical waterway has disrupted roughly a third of global fertilizer shipments, driving nitrogen prices up nearly 50% since February.
With planting season closing in two weeks, farmers face a difficult choice: buy less fertilizer and risk lower yields, or absorb the higher costs and risk losing money at harvest.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
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