USDA picks eight fertilizer projects for $1.34 billion investment

The US Department of Agriculture on Thursday selected eight fertilizer manufacturing projects for funding under its FIELDS program, representing more than $1.34 billion in total proposed investment including about $573 million in proposed federal funding.

Why it matters: The awards are the administration's main supply-side answer to a fertilizer market where four companies control about 77 percent of North American nitrogen capacity, and USDA estimates the added output could cut nitrogen prices by 4.4 percent and lift domestic potash production by nearly 40 percent once the projects are running.

Data as of US Department of Agriculture press release of October 22, 2026, read in full as issued (reproduced in full by RFD-TV), reporting the eight FIELDS selections, the $1.34 billion in total proposed investment, the $573 million in proposed USDA funding, and USDA's own price and production estimates, which are the department's projections and not outcomes. Developing item.

Vice President J.D. Vance, appearing in Nebraska, and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the selections on Thursday under the Fertilizer Investment and Expansion for Long-Term Domestic Supply (FIELDS) program, pairing about $573 million in proposed USDA funding, partly recovered from failed projects under the previous administration’s fertilizer program, with private capital. The largest selections were Intrepid Potash, chosen for about $139 million toward a $265 million sulfate of potash plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico, and Agriculture Project Holdco, chosen for about $116.9 million toward two manure-to-fertilizer plants in Kansas and Indiana, with PCI Nitrogen and TalusAg each selected for about $100 million. USDA said the eight projects would support about 1.08 million tons of annual production across nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur fertilizers.

USDA picks eight fertilizer projects for $1.34 billion investment

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