Des Moines Sun

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has joined Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and 65 other lawmakers in urging Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to add phosphate to the U.S. Critical Minerals List. The bipartisan and bicameral group argues that this move would help lower costs for farmers, stabilize fertilizer markets, and strengthen national food security.

The letter sent to Secretary Burgum highlights concerns about supply chain vulnerabilities related to phosphate, which is an essential component in fertilizer production. Lawmakers argue that including phosphate on the list would encourage domestic production and reduce dependence on foreign sources such as China.

“Phosphate, like potash, is indispensable to global food production and U.S. agriculture. It has no substitutes in farming, and disruptions in supply have immediate and far-reaching consequences for American producers, food prices, and national security,” the lawmakers wrote. “Farmers across the country are already experiencing the impacts of market volatility and supply pressures tied to phosphate availability.”

They continued: “Given phosphate’s central role in our economy and its clear vulnerability to supply disruptions, we strongly urge that it be immediately reexamined and added to the 2025 Critical Minerals List. You have the authority to make this designation, and doing so would reflect both the essentiality of phosphate in American food production and the systemic risks our farmers face from market disruptions created by the concentrated foreign supply.”

The group also thanked Secretary Burgum for including potash on the draft 2025 list after previous advocacy efforts led by Grassley and Ernst earlier this year.

Other signatories include Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.). In the House of Representatives, Representatives Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) led support for the letter.

Senator Grassley has previously worked on issues affecting fertilizer markets. He reintroduced legislation with Senator Tammy Baldwin requiring a Department of Agriculture study into competition within fertilizer markets. Grassley has also called for investigations into anti-competitive practices during recent administrations.