Farm Supplies Wholesalers NAICS 424910

May 23, 2025 - EO Aims to Increase US Potash Production

• Potash – used in agricultural fertilizers – was included alongside critical minerals listed in an executive order signed by President Trump in March. The EO – titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” – aims to ensure a stable and abundant supply of potash and other critical minerals by streamlining and fast-tracking the permitting process for new mines. According to The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), 98% of annual US potash consumption comes from imports and despite having natural reserves, the US only accounts for 0.2% of global potash supply. Instead, the US sources potash primarily from Canada, which accounts for more than 80% of total imports since 2020. If Trump’s tariff threats to Canada are implemented, tariffs will have direct impacts on fertilizer prices paid by US farmers. The average price of potash was $467 per ton in April, up 5% compared to March.
• The trade association for the US commercial fertilizer industry, The Fertilizer Institute, is urging the Trump administration to provide a strategic carveout for Canadian fertilizers – including designating potash and phosphate as critical minerals – to exempt them from import tariffs. Trump imposed 25% duties on most Canadian products on March 4th before announcing a one-month reprieve on some goods, including fertilizers, two days later. The US imported nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer products valued at more than $10 billion, more than half of which came from Canada, in 2023. Canada supplies 85% of the potash fertilizer and nearly 10% of their nitrogen fertilizer used by US growers, according to TFI. Potash prices have already risen nearly 20% this year ahead of US tariffs and phosphate prices are poised to surge more on retaliatory Canadian tariffs, Reuters reports. Higher prices for fertilizer – most farmers’ biggest input cost – would likely be passed along to growers.

• The widening spread between input prices paid by farmers and what they receive for their outputs in the form of lower commodity prices is squeezing farm profits, according to Farm Progress. Current farm income instability due to inflationary pressures, high interest rates, and several supply chain disruptions have farmers facing higher input costs while receiving lower commodity prices. Moreover, as commodity prices have fallen the gap between the two widened in 2023 and 2024. The percentage change in crop output prices between 2023 and 2024 (-13.8%) is much larger than the percentage decrease in input prices (-1.38%) during that period, USDA data show. Without any relief in the form of improved crop prices, farmers will continue to suffer from cost/price squeezes, eroding farm profit margins and reducing their purchasing power, according to Farm Progress.
• Employment by farm supplies wholesalers was flat in March 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 summer months and declining in the fall as farm activity slows. Meanwhile, the average wage at farm supplies wholesalers rose 2.3% over the same period to $30.14 per hour, its first trip above $30 per hour since June of 2024, BLS data shows. Inventories for miscellaneous nondurable goods wholesalers, which includes farm supplies, increased 2% year over year in February and were up 1.8% from January. Farm supply inventories typically peak in the first quarter as distributors stock up in anticipation of the spring planting season.