Fertilizer Grants Continue    08/29 07:03

   USDA Awards Grants to Expand Domestic Fertilizer Production

   USDA awards $35 million for seven projects in seven states to help U.S. 
fertilizer businesses expand nutrient production.

Russ Quinn
DTN Staff Reporter

   OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA is awarding $35 million for seven projects in seven 
states through the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (CPEP). The funds 
will help U.S. fertilizer businesses expand nutrient production.

   USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the grants at the 2024 Farm Progress 
Show in Boone, Iowa, on Wednesday. According to a USDA news release, the 
program provides grants to independent business owners to help modernize 
equipment, adopt new technologies and build production plants.

   USDA has invested $286.6 million in 64 projects across 32 states through 
FPEP. According to the release, these projects have created 768 new jobs in 
communities across the country and will increase domestic fertilizer production 
by over 5.6 million tons.

   Awards were made to facilities in California, Iowa, New York, Oregon, 
Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

   The largest award of $11.7 million went to AdvanSix Inc. located in 
Hopewell, Virginia. The company is an ammonium sulfate producer that provides 
31,400 agricultural producers with granular ammonium sulfate through the 
Midwest and the East Coast.

   The grant will be used to expand an existing facility. The plant expansion 
will increase capacity through equipment and storage activities. This project 
will expand the operational capacity by 195,000 tons per year and increase the 
total production to more than 36,000 ag producers.

   The Iowa project went to Quality Flow Environment LLC of Maquoketa, Iowa, 
with an award of $4.7 million.

   This grant will be used to construct a new thermochemical manufacturing 
facility for production of a fertilizer product made from dairy waste. The 
company utilizes waste generated from a contiguous dairy into a carbon product 
through a process called torrefaction.

   The process creates a high-quality, viable fertilizer product from animal 
waste feedstock. This facility is expected to generate over 540,000 tons of 
solid carbon-ready product annually, which will be made available to local 
producers in the region.

   "The Biden-Harris Administration continues to make innovative investments 
that bolster rural communities and support farmers, ranchers and small business 
owners," Vilsack said.

   "The investments announced today will increase domestic fertilizer 
production and strengthen our supply chain, while creating good-paying jobs to 
benefit all Americans." 

   President Biden and USDA created FPEP to combat issues facing American 
farmers due to rising fertilizer prices, which more than doubled between 2021 
and 2022 due to a variety of factors such as war in Ukraine and a lack of 
competition in the fertilizer industry, according to the release.

   The administration committed up to $900 million through the Commodity Credit 
Corporation (CCC) for FPEP. Funding supports long-term investments that will 
strengthen supply chains, create new economic opportunities for American 
businesses, and support climate-smart innovation.

   In 2023, DTN took a closer look at the USDA fertilizer grant program, and to 
determine if these grants have much of an effect on the nutrient supply for 
U.S. farmers. See that article here: 
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2023/03/17/dtn-finds-usda
-fertilizer-grant%20.

   Russ Quinn can be reached at Russ.Quinn@dtn.com

   Follow him on social platform X @RussQuinnDTN




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