California Ag Network

Tag: FPEP

  • Expanding Innovative Domestic Fertilizer Production

    U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is partnering with American business owners to expand innovative domestic fertilizer production, creating jobs in rural communities and strengthening local economies. The Department is awarding $35 million for seven projects in seven states through the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP), which is funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation. This program provides grants to independent business owners to help them modernize equipment, adopt new technologies, build production plants and more. This funding advances President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to grow the nation’s economy from the middle out and bottom up.

    “The Biden Administration continues to make innovative investments that bolster rural communities and support farmers, ranchers and small business owners,” Secretary 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.”

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

    These investments will boost domestic fertilizer production and lower costs for U.S. farmers. For example:

    • Dramm Corp. in Wisconsin will use a $776,000 grant to increase their production capacity and expand their network of customers and farmers while reducing their carbon footprint and increasing employee safety. Using fish offal collected from commercial and sport fishermen, Dramm produces a liquid fish fertilizer suitable for organic and traditional farming while keeping millions of pounds of waste out of landfills and fresh waterways.
    • In Virginia, AdvanSix, an ammonium sulfate producer, will expand a facility with an almost $12 million grant. The company currently provides 31,400 ag producers with ammonium sulfate on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Through this project, AdvanSix will expand their operational capacity by 195,000 tons per year, increasing total production to more than 36,000 producers.

    USDA is also making awards to facilities in California, Iowa, New York, Oregon and Tennessee.

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

    FPEP is part of a broader effort to help producers boost production and address global food insecurity. It is also one of many ways the Administration is promoting fair competition, innovation and resiliency across food and agriculture while combating the climate crisis.

    USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. Visit the Rural Data Gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov. To subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit the GovDelivery subscriber page.

  • USDA Partners with Farmers to Increase Innovative Domestic Fertilizer Production

    U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is partnering with American businesses as part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to increase innovative domestic fertilizer production, creating jobs in rural communities and providing more options to U.S. farmers.

    “The rapid increase in the cost of critical inputs like fertilizer is only the latest example of why we must invest in strong, domestic agricultural supply chains,” Vilsack said. “The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program not only increases fertilizer production and improves competition, but also creates new opportunities for American businesses and is one of the many ways that the Biden Administration is making long-term investments to strengthen our supply chains.”

    In 2022, USDA made $500 million available under the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP) to spur domestic competition and combat rising fertilizer costs caused by the war in Ukraine. The Department received applications from more than 350 businesses seeking to increase fertilizer production.

    Due to the strong demand for funding, the Commodity Credit Corporation is providing up to $400 million in additional FPEP funding to finance even more projects that will promote competition in agricultural markets.

    New Project Selections

    As part of this effort, USDA is inviting public comments on 66 projects eligible to receive grants to increase fertilizer production. The Department will only consider projects that adhere to federal policies designed to protect the environment and historic properties.

    USDA is seeking comments that assess how well each applicant plans to:

    • Incorporate social, economic and environmental considerations into decision-making and planning processes.
    • Protect cultural and historic properties, including those on Tribal lands, from potential impacts.

    Comments must be submitted to FPEP@usda.gov by July 22. For more information, visit https://www.rd.usda.gov/resources/environmental-studies/fpep-environmental-review-comments.

    USDA expects to announce final project selections in the coming months.

    Round One Awards

    Today, the Department is also awarding $30 million in grants through seven awards under round one of the program to help U.S. farmers in Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Texas and Wisconsin increase independent, domestic fertilizer production.

    The grants will create a competitive, resilient and sustainable economy that will support opportunities for local businesses and people across the nation. Some examples include:

    • Black’s Valley Ag Supply Inc. will build a new dry fertilizer production and storage facility in Durand, Wisconsin. The production plant expects to increase fertilizer production by 33% per year.
    • Farmer’s Union Oil Company will expand a fertilizer processing facility in rural Montana. This project will create a local and affordable fertilizer option for agricultural producers in a four-county region while saving and creating several local jobs.
    • Progressive Ag Cooperative will construct a dry fertilizer facility that will serve cooperative members from northern Iowa and southern Minnesota.

    This round of awards is part of the list of 21 potentially viable projects USDA released in January 2023.

    Background

    Fertilizer prices more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 due to many factors. These factors include: the war in Ukraine, a limited supply of the relevant minerals, high energy costs, high global demand and agricultural commodity prices, reliance on imports, and a lack of competition in the fertilizer industry.

    To combat these issues, USDA began accepting FPEP applications in September 2022. The Department initially announced plans to make $250 million in grants available, but quickly doubled the available funding to $500 million to address rising costs and spur competition. USDA is now adding up to an additional $400 million.

    The Department received requests for $3 billion in applications from more than 350 businesses for the first two rounds of the program. The businesses were located in 47 states and two territories.

    In January 2023, USDA released a list of 21 potentially viable projects for the first round of funding with a request for public comment. The first round focused on projects that will increase fertilizer capacity for the 2023 or 2024 crop years, to prioritize projects with near-term impact.

    In March 2023, Secretary Vilsack announced that USDA offered a total of $29 million to eight businesses in Alabama, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio and Washington. The grants will help the businesses modernize equipment, advance climate-smart practices and build production plants, among other activities.

    FPEP is part of a broader effort to help producers boost production and address global food insecurity. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov/fpep or https://www.farmers.gov/global-food-insecurity.

    FPEP is one of many ways the Biden Administration is promoting fair competition, innovation and resiliency across food and agriculture and combating the climate crisis by conserving and protecting our nation’s lands, biodiversity and natural resources, including our soil, air and water.