Farm Supplies Wholesalers NAICS 424910

Mar 23, 2026 - Fertilizer Prices Soar

• Geopolitical tensions involving Iran are disrupting global fertilizer supply chains and driving fertilizer prices sharply higher just weeks before US spring planting, AgWeb reports. Shipping concerns in the Strait of Hormuz, which is a critical global energy and fertilizer transport route, have triggered rapid price increases and market volatility. Retailers report frequent price changes, with urea rising $140 per ton, ammonia (NH3) up $100 per ton, and UAN up $100 per ton within two weeks. For US farm supplies wholesalers, the disruptions highlight the vulnerability of global supply chains, as the Middle East accounts for about 49% of global urea exports and 30% of ammonia exports. While reduced reliability of international supply could increase reliance on domestic production, potentially creating short-term demand opportunities for US manufacturers, the volatility also raises pressure from farmers and industry groups for government action to stabilize supply and prices.
• Leading indicators for the farm sector’s financial health all show elevated risk, according to the latest report from the Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center. The report tracks 14 financial indicators organized in four classes: Farmer and banker sentiment; Farm income and balance sheet health; Farm machinery market dynamics; and Credit quality. The risk rating (on a 1-10 scale, with 1 being low risk and 10 high risk) is 6.2. The farm machinery market showed the biggest signs of deterioration, with a risk rating of 5.7, while farm income and balance sheet health, and credit quality carry a risk rating of 5.8 each, and farmer and banker sentiment at 5.9. The forecast shows a decline in net cash income for the two crop farm business types: a 1% decline for specialty crops farm businesses and a 14.8% drop for corn farm businesses.

• Industry pushback regarding the impact of pesticides on children’s health in the Make America Healthy Again Commission’s first report released in May, resulted in the removal of one of the only mentions of ‘reducing’ pesticide use in the final draft issued in September, Civil Eats reports. In the months between the two reports, agriculture industry groups criticized the mention of pesticide use as harmful and lobbied the White House for changes. Rather than restricting pesticide and toxic chemical use or taking a more precautionary approach to safety evaluations, the second report merely tasks the Environmental Protection Agency with working to reform the approval process for chemical and biologic products to protect against weeds, pests and disease. Critics of the revised report argue it abandons major reforms and the policy recommendations amount to a public relations campaign with few effectual changes, according to CE.
• Employment by farm supplies wholesalers was flat in November compared to a year ago, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employment by the industry is seasonal, typically peaking in the second quarter, coinciding with spring planting season, and declining in the fall as farm activity slows. The average wage at farm supplies wholesalers inched up 0.6% year over year in November to $30.05 per hour, easing from its peak in June, BLS data shows. Sales by distributors of miscellaneous nondurable goods, which include farm supplies, increased 3.9% YoY in July but fell 5.6% versus June. Farm supplies sales typically peak in the spring as farmers plant their crops.