FTC Opens Industrywide Antitrust Probe Into Fertilizer Prices as Ferguson Faces Farmers From 18 States in Texas
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson told corn farmers in Texas the agency has opened a compulsory-process antitrust investigation into surging fertilizer prices.
Overview
The Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad antitrust investigation into the rising cost of fertilizer, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced during an agricultural event in Texas, according to PYMNTS. Speaking to corn growers, Ferguson said the agency’s probe is already underway: “I’m announcing that, on my order, the commission some time ago commenced a major industrywide investigation into the precipitous rise of fertilizer prices in this country, which has affected so many of our nation’s farmers, including everyone in this room,” he said, as reported by PYMNTS.
The announcement, made Thursday, May 28, 2026, came at a field gathering where more than 100 corn farmers from as many as 18 states convened at a farm in Grayson County, Texas, about an hour north of the Dallas metro area, according to DTN/Progressive Farmer.
What We Know
The investigation carries the FTC’s compulsory authority. Ferguson told the farmers the probe includes “the issuance of the compulsory process,” the agency’s term for the subpoenas it can use to demand documents and testimony, according to DTN/Progressive Farmer.
Ferguson framed the inquiry around the scale of the cost burden on producers. “USDA data has shown the single largest increase in input costs of farmers across the United States since 2020 has come from fertilizer,” he said, according to PYMNTS. He added that the recent price trend could not be brushed aside: “These continued price increases are not something our nation, much less our farmers, can continue to ignore,” he said, as reported by DTN/Progressive Farmer.
The event itself, billed as “Fed Up: Fertilizer Cartel Profits off Farmers’ Backs and Your Grocery Bill,” was held in North Texas on May 28, 2026, according to the Illinois Corn Growers Association. Fertilizer prices have climbed more than 150% since 2020, while net farm income fell 31% from its 2022 peak, the same group reported.
Year-over-year, the increases have spanned major nutrient categories. Comparing May 2026 with May 2025, anhydrous ammonia was 44% higher, UAN28 was 28% more expensive, urea was 27% higher, MAP was up 15%, DAP rose 14%, and potash was 5% higher, according to Farm Policy News.
Ferguson pointed to market structure as a central concern, describing “just a few corporations now controlling a substantial majority of the fertilizer sales in the United States,” according to DTN/Progressive Farmer. The companies named in coverage of the probe are Nutrien, Mosaic, CF Industries, Koch, and Norway-based Yara International; representatives for the firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding Ferguson’s announcement, according to PYMNTS.
The FTC’s inquiry is not the only federal action touching the sector. The Department of Justice is conducting both civil and criminal investigations into possible price collusion involving several leading commercial fertilizer manufacturers, according to PYMNTS.
Grower groups welcomed the move. Mark Bunselmeyer, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, said, “Illinois farmers have been dealing with skyrocketing fertilizer costs for years while farm income continues to tighten,” according to the Illinois Corn Growers Association. The Texas Corn Producers Association, which helped convene the gathering, attributed higher prices to concentrated market power, according to RFD-TV.
What We Don’t Know
Ferguson did not specify a timeline for the investigation or indicate whether it would lead to an enforcement action. He underscored that building a case will depend on cooperation from inside the industry: “We need evidence on the ground, people who are willing to provide it and people eventually who are willing to tell a judge and jury what the evidence is,” he said, according to DTN/Progressive Farmer.
He also acknowledged the resource gap between the agency and the firms it may eventually challenge in court. “If we have to sue these guys, it’s going to be me and my little agency up against 10 (law) firms and $1 billion,” Ferguson said, according to DTN/Progressive Farmer.
It remains unclear how the FTC’s civil inquiry and the DOJ’s separate civil and criminal investigations will interact, and whether the agencies will coordinate. The named companies have not publicly responded to the substance of the allegations.
Analysis
The probe places fertilizer alongside the small number of consolidated input markets now drawing antitrust attention. Ferguson’s emphasis on “a few corporations” controlling a “substantial majority” of U.S. fertilizer sales frames the inquiry as a structural-concentration matter rather than a single-firm complaint, according to DTN/Progressive Farmer. With the DOJ already pursuing civil and criminal collusion theories, the sector now faces parallel federal scrutiny across two agencies, according to PYMNTS. For farmers facing a cost line that has risen far faster than their income, the practical question is whether either track produces relief before the next planting season.