Categories: Bucks County BeaconPennsylvania News

Here’s How Trump’s War on Iran Is Affecting Bucks County Farmers

From soaring fuel prices to fertilizer shortages, Bucks County’s farmers may be in for more than Mother Nature’s unpredictable weather stress and strain as they begin planting season thanks to the Trump administration’s war on Iran.

The U.S. imports about 15% of fertilizers from the Middle East, while Forbes reported about 10% of American oil imports come from the region. According to a 2022 census report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the most recent data available, there were 871 working farms in Bucks County farming about 69,018 acres. The sector represented about $98.3 million in 2022.

Dave Wolfinger of Nockamixon is the fifth generation to work his family’s homestead. Wolfinger farms the family spread, which is part of 500 total acres under cultivation in Haycock, Nockamixon, Durham and Springfield townships.

While he isn’t concerned about sourcing the necessary fertilizers for the growing season, Wolfinger has already paid more and he is concerned about future impacts of fuel prices, too.

“I’m not concerned about getting [fertilizers], but I am more concerned about the price,” he said.

Last year’s liquid nitrogen load cost about $10,000, while a recent delivery to prepare his fields cost about $12,500.

Wolfinger has adjusted his crop plantings, too, which means less corn; more soybeans and hay, which require less fertilizers and other treatment products.

“Less spray material, less fertilizers – really less of everything,” Wolfinger added.

Wolfinger – along with other farmers – may have no choice but to pass fuel costs onto their customers in order to make this year’s balance sheets work.

He’s already expecting to add about 30% to delivered orders. He understands customers might not be happy about the added cost.

“I got a truckload of 25 tons of liquid nitrogen at $541.00 [per gallon] at the port, plus the freight,” Wolfinger explained, “last year we spent $400 per ton, delivered.”

Nitrogen and potassium are critical for plant growth. Nitrogen is used for leaf and stem growth, and for chlorophyll production; while potassium is important for plant water intake and regulation, stalk strength, disease resistance and plant growth.

The Associated Press reported nitrogen shortages caused by the war are of high concern as it is a necessary nutrient for corn crop yields, as well as other staple crops.

For farmers, “input costs” are made up of products like fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides or other treatment applications needed for a robust harvest.

READ: Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick Gives Trump a ‘Blank Check’ With War on Iran, Votes Against War Powers Resolution

“If the input costs go up, the crop yield may go down,” said Don Buckman, a farmer in Bedminster Township and president of the Bucks County Farm Bureau.

The Bucks County Farm Bureau is a grassroots volunteer organization that identifies policies and tracks concerns of local farmers, working with state and federal farm bureaus and lobbyists.

But the immediate concerns for farmers like Buckman, as they prepare to plan the season’s crops, are can they afford the diesel fuel most equipment runs on coupled with scarce fertilizer supplies to support crop growth and yields.

Buckman said when costs climb and resources sink he’ll often switch his crop plantings to adjust while keeping the land he farms productive.

Following the U.S.-Israeli attacks in February, the cost and availability of fuel and fertilizers through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital narrow shipping pathway between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman has been caught in the crosshairs. The Persian Gulf nation is using drones, naval mines, missile threats, fast-attack “swarm boats,” satellite signal jamming and a “toll booth” system to disrupt shipping through the vital waterway.

Ultimately consumers will find themselves paying the price in higher gas and home heating oil costs and potentially increasingly higher costs for groceries and produce.

“We do import potassium – so about 97% is imported, 18% nitrogen and 13% of phosphate fertilizers” are also imported to Pennsylvania, Buckman explained

Corn and its byproducts are used to feed people, livestock and make vehicle fuels.

According to the USDA’s 2025 state agricultural overview, Pennsylvania farms make up about 7.1 million acres across the commonwealth. Corn and corn silage [livestock feed representing stalks, leaves and ears] represent 1.01 million acres planted.

Penn State Extension reported Pennsylvania farms generated $7.8 billion worth of commodities and products in 2017.

“If the input costs go up I do primarily hay, and it will impact the cost” of growing crops, Buckman said.

He noted decisions over what to plant are often made based on whether or not the additional cost for harvest can be passed onto the consumer or if the choice means switching to different crops or making “it work with less.”

Buckman typically uses about 250 pounds of fertilizer per acre on his farm.

“The downside in farming is that [farmers] always seem to be eating costs,” Buckman explained.

But it could be worse, as some farmers may not be able to obtain fertilizer at any price, Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, told AP.

READ: Doylestown Borough Council Member Connor O’Hanlon Hopes to Launch a Community Fridge Program in 2026

Another immediate concern for farmers is the specter of fuel vendor price gouging.

“It seems like things go up a lot faster at the pump, and I feel there is concern about price gouging” among local farmers, Buckman said.

While some farmers try to manage costs in advance by prepaying next year’s diesel fuel needs, Buckman has heard reports some fuel vendors are not honoring those fall pricing contracts.

“If you prepaid for fuel at $2 per gallon and now it’s $5 per gallon, the [fuel] company can’t eat that” difference, he said.

CBS News reported the ripple effects of the war in Iran “couldn’t have come at a worse time for farmers.”

Rising costs to small and family-owned farms that struggle against declining revenues, higher costs and razor thin margins put additional pressure on them.

Even when the Strait of Hormuz opens as a shipping thoroughfare, deliveries to the U.S. from the Middle East take from 30 to 45 days to reach the Port of New Orleans. The Trump Administration has taken steps to remedy the fertilizer shortage by increasing imports from Venezuela.

READ: Forty Organizations Offer a Plan to Revitalize Rural America

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a press release the decision to waive Jones Act regulations for fuel and fertilizer imports coming through America’s ports, should help.

The Jones Act of 1920, is post World War I legislation aimed at boosting shipping and regulating maritime activities and commerce.

And the Department of Agriculture noted it had announced $12 billion in “one-time payments to help farmers offset losses” due to Trump-mandated tariffs, the same report said.

Buckman said this year he’s considering a cut back on growing corn and may do more hay or soybeans because the fertilizer is less of an input demand to grow those crops.

“I think farmers will use different crop rotations – or they may scale back. Everything you do to inputs will affect your yield,” Buckman noted.

Impacts to farming and resources needed during the growing season “always trickles back to the farm, which then impacts food. It’s a concern to everybody,” Buckman said.

For now, the growing season’s forecast is uncertain. With more than fickle weather patterns to test farmers’ patience, and with many conditions beyond their control, the impact of higher costs and lower supplies may ultimately put harvest yields – months from planting them – to the test.