IL Corn Growers Association Monitoring Fertilizer Tariffs and 2024 Crop Budgets

Jan 22, 2024

By Lindsay Mitchell

Last week, the US Department of Commerce set a tax of 7.41% on imports of phosphate fertilizer from Morocco and Russia, which is a decrease from the previous rate of 19.97%. The International Trade Commission also decided Wednesday night to maintain their initial determination that domestic industries suffered material harm from Moroccan imports. While Commerce’s new rate is a positive step, it’s higher than the 2.12% recommended in the administrative review.

"Fertilizers represent a major cost of production for corn farmers, so we’ve been advocating for more competition in the marketplace,” said Dave Rylander, ICGA President and farmer. “These high import taxes imposed by the federal government are ultimately paid by the end user – farmers - so we’re very concerned about this decision. We will continue working to lower input costs where we can and want our corn farmers to know that their profitability is a top concern for us.”

Also last week, the University of Illinois’s FarmDoc published a revised 2024 crop budget report showing negative average returns for farmers in all regions in Illinois. Fertilizer costs are estimated to represent about 35% of direct farm expenses. High input costs coupled with lower prices will have drastic impacts for farmers.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.