NEW YORK CITY – An antitrust class action lawsuit was recently filed against several major U.S. fertilizer companies, alleging these companies conspired to fix, raise and maintain prices for critical agricultural fertilizers, forcing U.S. farmers to pay artificially inflated prices, according to the complaint.

Filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado in March, the lawsuit, named Union Line Farms, Inc. (of Hopkinson, Iowa) v. The Mosaic Co., alleged “a coordinated scheme to restrain competition in the markets for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (potash) fertilizers, collectively known as NPK fertilizers.” The lawsuit was filed by DiCello Levitt, of New York City, along with co-counsel Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray, LLC, of Denver, Colo.

The lawsuit names The Mosaic Co., of Tampa, Fla.; Nutrien, Ltd., of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; Nutrien Ag Solutions, Inc., of Loveland, Colo.; CF Industries Holdings, Inc., CF Industries, Inc. and CF Industries Nitrogen, LLC, all of Northbrook, Ill.; Koch Agronomic Services, LLC, of Wichita, Kan.; Yara International ASA, of Oslo, Norway; Yara North America, Inc., of Tampa, Fla.; and Canpotex, Ltd., of Saskatoon.

“Most people will never think about the cost of fertilizer, but American farmers live with it every day,” said Greg Asciolla, partner and chair of DiCello Levitt’s Antitrust and Competition Litigation Practice, in a March 17 media statement.

“When prices for an essential input are artificially inflated, the impact falls squarely on farmers and ripples across the food system,” he added. “This case is about restoring competition in a market that is foundational to American agriculture.”

According to the complaint, during the 2021-2022 price spike, “U.S. farmers paid more than 60 percent higher prices for fertilizer inputs – an increase that added an estimated $128,000 in costs per farm in 2022 – while defendants reported record profits,” the DiCello Levitt media statement said.

In addition, the lawsuit alleged that “fertilizer prices soared far beyond historical norms and remained elevated even after defendants’ claimed justifications – such as global supply disruptions and increased input costs – had subsided.”

While declining to specifically address the collusion allegations in the lawsuit, Veronica Nigh, chief economist with The Fertilizer Institute in Arlington, Va., told Farm World, “The Fertilizer Institute strongly supports expansion of domestic fertilizer production capacity in order to strengthen supply chain reliability and support farmers.

“Building on the recent designation of phosphate and potash as critical minerals and congressional action on important reforms to the federal permitting process, Washington can help strengthen the domestic fertilizer industry and support U.S. farmers through policy actions that meaningfully expand domestic fertilizer production, accelerate adoption of fertilizer innovations, enhance the most efficient use of fertilizer by farmers, and support U.S. food and energy security,” she said.

She said recommended actions to increase U.S. fertilizer production capacity and supply chain reliability are focused on six primary areas of policy that could be achieved through a combination of both congressional and administrative actions.

She cited the first three as streamlining federal permitting to expand domestic fertilizer production; modernizing energy policy to ensure affordable American natural gas for ammonia production; and accelerating innovation, production and adoption of advanced fertilizer technologies.

She said the last three promote a more open, fair and transparent trade and market environment; enable responsible reuse of mine waste to expand critical minerals supply; and incentivize farmer adoption of 4R nutrient stewardship and nutrient use efficiency technologies.

According to The Fertilizer Institute, 4R nutrient stewardship provides a framework to achieve cropping system goals, such as increased production, increased farmer profitability, enhanced environmental protection, and improved sustainability.

Nigh said, however, meaningful expansion of domestic fertilizer production capacity will require a significant investment of both capital and time, as well as important reforms to the federal permitting process.

“Typical fertilizer production facilities cost $1-4 billion to build, and millions each year to operate,” she added. “The global average to plan, permit and construct new phosphate mining capacity is four to five years. In the U.S., the permitting alone for the most recently developed phosphate mine required 10 years.”

Ryan Drollette, Iowa State University farm management specialist, told Farm World, “It would take much deeper investigation to speak to collusion versus supply and demand, and many other things impacting the fertilizer market right now.”