WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Joni Ernst (R-IA), members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, are working to add phosphate – a critical fertilizer ingredient – to the U.S. Critical Minerals List.
In a bipartisan letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, the lawmakers, joined by over 60 of their colleagues, explain that this designation will bring phosphate production home, strengthening supply chains, diminishing our reliance on countries like China, lowering input prices for farmers, and ultimately safeguarding America’s food security.
“Phosphate, like potash, is indispensable to global food production and U.S. agriculture. It has no substitutes in farming, and disruptions in supply have immediate and far-reaching consequences for American producers, food prices, and national security,” wrote the lawmakers. “Farmers across the country are already experiencing the impacts of market volatility and supply pressures tied to phosphate availability.”
U.S. Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Kat Cammack (R-FL) are leading this effort in the House.
Read the full letter here.
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