President Biden’s pick to be the next Chief Ag Negotiator says, if confirmed, he will engage with China to step up its production of fertilizer ingredients as farm input costs here soar.  Doug McKalip says farm input inflation will be a top priority of his if confirmed.

Aside from Russia, McKalip says China is another big producer of fertilizer ingredients.

Texas A&M’s Ag and Food Policy Center reported early in the year that record fertilizer prices could increase another 80 percent this year.  The Ukraine-Russia conflict has led to supply shortages, with both nations major producers of ag commodities and inputs.  Russia, alone, accounts for 23 percent of global ammonia exports, 14 percent of urea, 21 percent for potash, and 10 percent of processed phosphates.