USDA’s Vaden Accuses Nutrien, Mosaic of Fertilizer Price Collusion

By Ryan Hanrahan

Agri-Pulse’s Oliver Ward reported that “Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden (last week) accused Nutrien and Mosaic of working to ‘collude’ to limit U.S. fertilizer supply and control prices, suggesting that the administration could take future action to inject more competition into markets, if necessary.”

“‘This administration is going to do everything it can to ensure that farmers have the fertilizer [they] need, at a price that they can pay,’ Vaden said during a webinar hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center,” according to Ward’s reporting. “‘We’re not going to allow these two companies to do anything to undermine this.'”

“Canada’s Nutrien and Florida-based Mosaic were responsible for more than 90% of North American phosphate fertilizer and potash production in 2024, according to Farm Action – an ag industry accountability group. On the distribution side, Farm Action notes that just seven companies control 70% of crop input sales, including Nutrien Ag Solutions, the retail business of Nutrien,” Ward reported. “During the webinar on Wednesday, Vaden described Nutrien’s and Mosaic’s grip on the market as a ‘duopoly’ that is constraining ‘fertilizer supply in this country’ and driving ‘up the cost that farmers are paying.'”

“The deputy secretary said on Wednesday that he is closely watching a project to open a new fertilizer mine in Saskatchewan, Canada, that will eventually export to the U.S. and could ‘break up that duopoly’s control,'” Ward reported. “He didn’t specifically name the project, but the Australian mining company BHP has a venture worth more than $10 billion to open a potash mine in the region. The mine would be the 11th such mine in the province and could be operational by the middle of next year, according to a recent press release.”

“Vaden said that the Trump administration is on the lookout for signs that Nutrien or Mosaic could try to stifle the new competition,” Ward reported. “He pledged to protect ‘any other new market participant that wants to come in, provide new fertilizer supply, and break up the cute little game that Mosaic and Nutrien have been playing for the last several years.'”