Domestic fertilizer projects announced

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The third round of Fertilizer Production Expansion Program grant recipients, including four in Illinois, was recently announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The program provides grants to independent business owners to help them modernize equipment, adopt new technologies, build production plants and other investments to boost domestic fertilizer production.

The Illinois projects approved for grants were:

• Cook County — Patriot Acres LLC received a $1.5 million grant to assist with the construction and equipping of a 45,720-square-foot, organic recycling and processing facility in Des Plaines. Patriot Acres utilizes landscape waste, food waste and organic discard into high quality compost and liquid soil additive called Terreplenish. The facility is expected to generate enough fertilizer to replace roughly 253,000 acres per year and provide domestic fertilizer to 1,800-plus producers in the region.

• Sangamon County — Sul4r Plus LLC received a $14.8 million grant that will be used to provide financing for construction and equipping of a new fertilizer facility in Springfield. The facility, operated by Sul4r-Plus, will up-cycle synthetic gypsum which is a waste from coal fired plants into organic binder nutrient. The project is expected to create 50 new positions and anticipates yielding 100,000 tons per year which will be made available to more than 80 local producers annually.

• Stephenson County — Aquatic Agriculture LLC received a $2 million grant to provide financing for equipment and working capital for a mobile fertilizer processing and bailing operation. The project, which is unique to the industry, bales and packages chicken litter into a producer-ready product with extended shelf life. Operated by Green Harvest Solutions, the new equipment and working capital will help deliver a high-content, low-impact fertilizer amendment to producers throughout the Midwest. The project anticipates yielding 173,250 tons per year of fertilizer nutrient which will be enough to cover roughly 200,000 acres in replacement to the syntactic equivalent.

• Warren County — Interpose Ag LLC received a $2.4 million grant to help produce a low salt, potassium phosphate liquid fertilizer for in-season application uses. The project is expected to create 10 new jobs and anticipates yielding 6 million gallons per year of liquid fertilizer which will be made available to more than 100 local producers annually.

Earlier this year, Bionutrients Ag LLC in Wabash, Indiana, received a grant of just over $5.5 billion to help offset costs associated with erecting and equipping a facility to process chicken manure and other waste from egg production facilities into fertilizer. Bionutrients will provide fertilizer to grain and fruit crops.

Through the first two rounds of awards, $121 million was granted to 33 projects to begin or expanded domestic fertilizer production.

The recent announcement included $83 million in 12 states for projects through the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program.

Global Impacts

“Supply chain disruptions from the global pandemic to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s unprovoked war against Ukraine have shown just how important it is to invest in this crucial link in the agricultural supply chain here at home,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Fertilizer prices have more than doubled from 2021 to 2022 due to many factors, including Putin’s price hike, a limited supply of the relevant minerals and high energy costs, high global demand and agricultural commodity prices, reliance on fertilizer imports and lack of competition in the fertilizer industry.

The United States is a major importer and dependent on foreign fertilizer and is the second or third top importer for each of the three major components of fertilizer. The top producers of the major components of fertilizer include China, Russia, Canada and Morocco, with Belarus also providing a significant share of potash.

“In early 2022, USDA announced the $250 million effort to try and stimulate more domestic production of fertilizer and the ingredients that go into fertilizer. The president and I had the opportunity to talk about this and he believed that we should double that initiative. So, now a $500 million initiative,” Vilsack said.

“We wanted first and foremost to be utilized by independent operations, those that are outside the dominant fertilizer companies, so it creates competition. We wanted it to be focused on made in America. We want to invest in innovation.

“We want to make sure that as whatever is going into the development of this fertilizer is produced sustainably, either in terms of the production process or the transportation process, with the feedstock that is used. We hope that it is farm-focused and farmer-focused.”

“This is an exciting investment for our local ag producers. Increasing fertilizer production helps ensure a strong supply chain and keeps costs lower for rural Illinois farmers,” said Molly Hammond, USDA acting state director for Illinois.

USDA received requests for $3 billion in applications from more than 350 businesses for the first two rounds of the program. Since the program was announced in 2022, USDA has invested $121 million in 33 projects.

The program is authorized by the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, to assist agricultural producers through grants, loans, purchases, payments and other operations, and makes available materials and facilities required in the production and marketing of agricultural commodities.

“The program’s definition of eligible applicants is pretty broad. For-profit companies can apply, nonprofits can apply, tribes and tribal organizations can apply, producer-owned co-ops can apply, certified benefit corporations and state and local government and their agencies can also apply. Private entities must be independently owned and operated,” Vilsack said.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants must manufacture or process or plan to manufacture or process in accordance with all federal, state, tribal and local regulations governing fertilizer and nutrient manufacturing, processing, storage, distribution and waste management. They must operate with the United States or its territories.

Eligible applicants must certify that they do not hold a market share greater than or equal to the top four manufacturers or processors or distributors as applicable in nitrogen, phosphate or potash, or any combination of the three.

If manufacturing, processing or planning to manufacture or process other eligible nutrients not listed, no certification is required.

Grant funds must be used for the purpose of increasing or otherwise expanding the manufacturing and processing of fertilizer and nutrient alternatives and their availability for production of agricultural commodities in the United States.