From the Farm: U.S. tariff policy could harm farmers

CENTRAL ILLINOIS (WCIA) — The United States’ tariff policy has been topsy turvy and farmers are caught in the middle.

And, they could feel the impacts of tariffs even more in the future, when they need to purchase more fertilizer. WCIA’s Stu Ellis caught up with Curt Miller, the CEO of United Prairie. Miller said that lots of the fertilizer that farmers use come from Canada. Fortunately though, farmers purchased most of their fertilizer for this year before the tariffs took effect.

“When you look at Canada, a lot of the topic is going to go to potash, right? So when you look at potash, roughly 7 million tons of potash or 85% of the U.S. demand comes from Canada. And most of those tons come to us via the rail line,” Miller said. “So when you look at spring seasons, among us, right, are coming here pretty quick. We’re looking at like 80% of those tons have already been locked in or taken care of before this season is here. Most of that, it was spread last fall, right? It’s only 20% of that potash should be affected by the tariff.”

Miller added that he’s not calculating prices just yet — instead he’s waiting to see how the market reacts to the tariff.