News Type: Press Releases

TFI Wins HOS Exemption for Fertilizer

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch today applauded the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for including fertilizer in the list of products covered by the agency’s Hours of Service (HOS) emergency declaration. This inclusion will help avoid any potential bottlenecks in the fertilizer supply chain during these challenging times.

“First of all, we thank Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Elaine Chao and FMCSA Acting Administrator Jim Mullen for adding fertilizer to the essential commodities list,” Rosenbusch said. “At the end of the day, it’s about putting food on Americans’ tables. Fertilizer relies on a safe and efficient transportation network to get crop nutrients to farmers where and when they need them. With the spring planting session upon us, any delays could lead to farmers not getting the essential crop nutrients when and where they are needed to grow the food, fuel and fiber our world needs.

TFI requested that fertilizer be added to the emergency declaration in a letter to Secretary Chao on Wednesday, urging that fertilizer is an essential precursor to food production and that the time-sensitive nature of fertilizer delivery warranted fertilizer’s inclusion. On Thursday, FMCSA responded by releasing an amended list that included fertilizer. 

“Because of Secretary Chao and Acting Administrator Mullens’ actions, farmers across the country will be able to rely on the safe and timely delivery of fertilizer on which our food security depends,” Rosenbusch concluded.

TFI Leads Ag Coalition in Urging States to Use CISA Guidance to Ensure Food and Agriculture are Deemed Essential

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Led by The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), over 40 national food and agriculture organizations today joined together to send letters to all 50 governors requesting that they “incorporate the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) guidance and any future amendments into their state response plan, and any critical shelter-in-place or shut down orders for their state, allowing these workers, facilities and services to continue to operate and provide necessary inputs for the food and agriculture supply chain.”

The letter highlights the critical nature of these workers, facilities and services and the importance of maintaining their ability to continue to operate and provide necessary inputs for the food and agriculture supply chain. Potential disruptions to these businesses would include impacts on accessibility of seed, fertilizer, crop protection products, credit providers, agricultural labor, equipment, grains, oilseeds and processed commodities, flour, animal food and ingredients for food-producing animals, modes of transportation, daily movement of milk and all other agricultural commodities.

The letter concludes with the need for swift and consistent action, saying, “[w]ith the spring planting season already upon us, the next six to eight weeks will be crucial to ensure that American agriculture can operate safely and without undue burdens that could inhibit our ability to do what we do best, feed the world.”

The full letter can be read by clicking here.

TFI Urges States to Use CISA Guidance in Designating Fertilizer an Essential Industry

large truck on dirt road

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent to all 50 state governors on Monday, The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch requested that states use guidance issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) that lists fertilizer industry employees as essential workers and the fertilizer industry as one of the nation’s critical infrastructure industries.

“Using the federal guidelines will ensure a consistent approach across all 50 states and local governments,” Rosenbusch said. “And having fertilizer and all agriculture inputs recognized as “essential services” will ensure that American agriculture can remain operable and unfettered across the country.”

The next six to eight weeks are crucial to the fertilizer industry and farmer customers, as they conduct spring planting activities. The timely delivery of plant nutrients to American farmers is critical to their ability to produce food, fuel, and fiber.

“In order to get plant nutrients to the farm, the fertilizer industry relies on a safe and efficient transportation network, including rail carriers, ports, barges, pipelines, and trucks,” Rosenbusch continued. “Fertilizer is responsible for 50 percent of crop yields and is essential to our nation’s agricultural production and food supply. Our members have taken steps to remain fully operational throughout the duration of this event while taking necessary precautions to protect the health and safety of their employees and the communities in which they operate.”

TFI is not currently aware of any prohibitions contemplated on interstate shipments of goods to contain the spread of COVID-19 at this time, but stressed that such constraints could cripple the ability of its members to provide farmers with the fertilizers they need in a very limited planting window.

The full letter can be read by clicking here.

 

TFI Urges White House to Designate Fertilizer as Essential

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch requested that the federal government recognize fertilizer and all agriculture inputs as “essential services” in order to ensure that American agriculture can remain operable and unfettered. 

“The next six to eight weeks will be crucial to our members and their farmer customers, as they conduct spring planting activities. The timely delivery of plant nutrients to American farmers is critical to their ability to produce food, fuel, and fiber,” Rosenbusch said. “In order to get plant nutrients to the farm, the fertilizer industry relies on a safe and efficient transportation network, including rail carriers, ports, barges, pipelines, and trucks. In addition, the ability to move products across the border of Canada is also an important part of the fertilizer supply chain.”

TFI is not currently aware of any prohibitions contemplated on interstate shipments of goods to contain the spread of COVID-19 at this time, but stressed that such constraints could cripple the ability of its members to provide farmers with the fertilizers they need in a very limited planting window.

“Fertilizer is responsible for 50 percent of crop yields. It is essential to our nation’s agricultural production and food supply,” Rosenbusch continued. “Our members are taking steps to remain fully operational throughout the duration of this event while taking necessary precautions to protect the health and safety of our employees and the communities in which they operate.”

The full letter can be read by clicking here.

TFI Applauds DHS Move to Designate Fertilizer Industry as Essential

team meeting in crop field

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch today applauded the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) guidance listing fertilizer employees as essential and the fertilizer industry as one of the nation’s critical infrastructure industries. The industries whose workers are identified are deemed essential to the U.S. economy and are required to continue operations, to the greatest extent possible

“Fertilizer is responsible for 50 percent of crop yields and is essential to our nation’s agricultural production and food supply,” Rosenbusch said. “We thank the Trump Administration for recognizing the critical role fertilizer plays in feeding our nation and the world.”

Prior to the designation of essential by DHS, TFI members were already taking steps to remain fully operational throughout the duration of this event while taking necessary precautions to protect the health and safety of their employees and the communities in which they operate.

“In addition to thanking the administration and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), I’d also like to thank all of TFI’s member companies and employees for the incredible work they do every day and for continuing that work in the face of a global pandemic to ensure that farmers have the plant nutrients where and when they are needed to produce the food, fuel and fiber our world needs,” concluded Rosenbusch.

 The full letter sent to President Trump on Wednesday can be read by clicking here.

 

Ecosystem Services Market Consortium and The Fertilizer Institute Launch Pilot

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2020 – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) and the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC) announced today at Commodity Classic plans to test improved nutrient stewardship as a means of increasing farmer profitability through the ecosystem services market being developed by the ESMC. This pilot project will test the ESMC’s protocols and data intake procedures and other program aspects while TFI will identify potential buyers for the ecosystem service impact credits generated.

The Fertilizer Institute will work with farmers enrolled in their 4R Advocate Program in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and South Dakota. TFI’s 4R Advocate Program links nutrient stewardship, including precision agriculture and variable rate application, to farm profitability and has collected production data, including fertilizer applications, from participating producers for four years.

4R Nutrient Stewardship principles incorporate the right source, right rate, right time, and right placement of fertilizer and are a proven framework that helps American farmers increase production and profitability while enhancing environmental protection and improving sustainability.

ESMC’s science-based, outcomes-based protocols and program generates credits for soil carbon (C), net GHG, water quality and water use efficiency. The collaborative effort with TFI will enable ESMC to secure producer intake data information to establish baseline attributes and to quantify impact changes over time; to capture, store and manage data required for ESMC asset generation; and to evaluate strengths and gaps in meeting corporate reporting needs and requirements for GHG and water risk, water quality, and water use efficiency.

“This pilot presents TFI and its members with an opportunity to prove the financial cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits of 4R Nutrient Stewardship principles,” said Corey Rosenbusch, TFI President and CEO. By overlaying the ESMC platform currently under development to generate ecosystem services impact credits with TFI’s existing 4R tracking of nutrient stewardship and profitability, the pilot is intended to show a significant correlation between these goals.

“This landmark-setting pilot is an example of industry collaboration coming together to resolve our thorniest environmental challenges with common sense market-based solutions to reward producers,” said Debbie Reed, Executive Director of the ESMC. ESMC is launching several more pilots this winter and spring in the Midwestern corn and soy region, focusing on row crop and grain production systems. The ESMC is building a national-scale ecosystem services market designed and conceived for the agricultural sector. It plans a 2022 full market launch of its Ecosystem Services Market. ESMC seeks to enroll 30 percent of available working lands in the top four crop regions and top four pasture regions to impact 250 million acres by 2030.

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About the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium

The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium LLC was formed in May 2019 and is a subsidiary of the Soil Health Institute. ESMC’s mission is to advance ecosystem service markets that incentivize farmers and ranchers to improve soil health systems that benefit society. ESMC LLC is a member-based organization launching a national scale ecosystem services market for agriculture to recognize and reward farmers and ranchers for their environmental services to society. ESMC members represent the spectrum of the agricultural sector supply chain with whom we are scaling sustainable agricultural sector outcomes, including increased soil carbon, reduced net greenhouse gases, and improved water quality and water use conservation. (www.ecosystemservicesmarket.org)

ESMC Founding Circle members include: ADM; Bunge; Cargill; Corteva Agriscience; Danone North America; General Mills; Land O’Lakes Inc.; McDonald’s USA; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; Nestle; Noble Research Institute, LLC; Nutrien; The Nature Conservancy; the Soil Health Institute; and Syngenta. ESMC Legacy Partner members include: Almond Board of California; American Farm Bureau Federation; American Farmland Trust; American Soybean Association; Anuvia Plant Nutrients; Arizona State University; Arva Intelligence; Bayer; the Conservation Technology Information Center; Farm Foundation; Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture; Impact Ag Partners; K-Coe Isom; Mars, Inc.; National Association of Conservation Districts; National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; National Corn Growers Association; National Farmers Union; NativeEnergy; Newtrient, LLC; OpenTEAM; Pivot Bio; Sand County Foundation; Soil Health Partnership; The Fertilizer Institute; Tatanka Resources; the Tri-Societies; Tyson Foods and World Wildlife Fund. Partners pledge financial support and active participation to establish private ecosystem service markets for agriculture and to improve ways to measure, verify and monetize increases in soil carbon, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, improved water quality and increased water conservation. ESMC welcomes companies, nonprofit and conservation organizations and agricultural organizations as partners. 

About The Fertilizer Institute
The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is the leading voice of the nation’s fertilizer industry. Tracing its roots back to 1883, TFI’s membership includes fertilizer producers, wholesalers, retailers, and trading firms. TFI’s full-time staff, based in Washington, D.C., serves its members through legislative, educational, technical, economic information and public communication programs. Find more information about TFI online at TFI.org.

The Fertilizer Institute Applauds USDA’s Agriculture Innovation Agenda, Seeks to Gain Government Commitment to Fund 4R-Related Research

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2020 – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) announced its support for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Agriculture Innovation Agenda,” which the agency bills as a “solution for farmers, consumers, and the environment.” TFI will continue working with USDA to find practical solutions to increasing the adoption of 4R Nutrient Stewardship practices among farmers. 4R principles incorporate the right source, right rate, right time, and right placement of fertilizer and are a proven framework that helps American farmers increase production and profitability while enhancing environmental protection and improving sustainability.

“I applaud Secretary Perdue and the team at USDA for their commitment to sustainable agriculture, and TFI fully supports this new initiative,” said Corey Rosenbusch, TFI President and CEO. “The Fertilizer Institute has long promoted similar goals, including 4R Nutrient Stewardship, and I look forward to future cooperation with the department as we work toward advancing these shared objectives to benefit American agriculture.”

TFI and its members are committed to being part of the solution when it comes to innovation and sustainability in agriculture. TFI members are well-positioned to work with farmers in areas such as technical assistance and writing and implementing nutrient management plans based on the 4Rs. 

Through the 4R Research Fund, TFI is also committed to measuring the outcomes of 4R practices. The 4R Research Fund has led to $17.2 million in research efforts through private and public collaborations. The Agriculture Innovation Agenda presents an excellent opportunity to leverage private sector funds with public sector research dollars to quantify the environmental benefits of implementing suites of 4R practices on the farm. In fact, the 2018 Farm Bill designated 4R-based research as a high-priority research area.  

In addition, USDA’s Agriculture Innovation Agenda is based on a report by the National Academies, “Science Breakthroughs to Advance Food and Agricultural Research – 2030,” which identifies research needs compatible with the 4Rs.

Finally, improvements in data collection by USDA would enable a better understanding of how cropping system management decisions interact with environmental properties or conservation practices. The inclusion of data that focuses on management, however, could be improved to account for nutrient management strategies such as fertilizer source, rate, time, and place.

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The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is the leading voice of the nation’s fertilizer industry. Tracing its roots back to 1883, TFI’s membership includes fertilizer producers, wholesalers, retailers, and trading firms. TFI’s full-time staff, based in Washington, D.C., serves its members through legislative, educational, technical, economic information and public communication programs. Find more information about TFI online at TFI.org.

The Fertilizer Institute’s 5th State of the Fertilizer Industry Report Highlights Improvement in Environmental Impact, Safety, and On-Farm Fertilizer Use

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2020 – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) today released its fifth State of the Fertilizer Industry Report. The report tracks social, environmental, and economic metrics across the entire value chain to identify industry progress and mark areas for improvement. Since 2013, the industry has made significant improvements in water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and research on and adoption of 4R Nutrient Stewardship practices.

“The business community is making sustainability a priority, and the fertilizer industry is no different,” said Corey Rosenbusch, TFI President and CEO. “As TFI marks five years of collecting sustainability data, I am excited to be able to look back at the accomplishments we’ve made while also charting a path to where we want to be in the next five years and beyond.”

This year’s report includes data representing 34 companies in the manufacturing, retail, and wholesaler and distributor space. The data represents 91 percent of manufacturing capacity and 32 percent of the retail industry in the United States. Report highlights include:

  • The industry is more than twice as safe as industry peers when compared to benchmark data from the Department of Labor.
  • The fertilizer industry delivers more than $130 billion in economic impact in the United States.
  • Total energy use per nutrient ton of fertilizer produced decreased 3 percent from the prior year.
  • In 2018, the industry captured more than 4.5 times the greenhouse gas emissions that were captured in 2013. These captured emissions were then used for other industrial purposes.
  • Nitrogen producers are using half the amount of water per nutrient ton produced than they did in 2013.

The report showcases data on all segments of the fertilizer industry from fertilizer use on the farm, the impact on people and communities, energy and environment, and transportation. For the first time this year, TFI is able to report that nearly 6 million tons of recycled materials were used in the production fertilizer.

The fertilizer industry employs more than 103,000 people in the United States. To capture their work and impact, the State of the Industry Report features interviews with employees across the value chain, including those who partner with the industry on research and stewardship initiatives.

To learn more about this year’s State of the Fertilizer Industry report, visit fertilizerreport.org.

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The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is the leading voice of the nation’s fertilizer industry. Tracing its roots back to 1883, TFI’s membership includes fertilizer producers, wholesalers, retailers, and trading firms. TFI’s full-time staff, based in Washington, D.C., serves its members through legislative, educational, technical, economic information and public communication programs. Find more information about TFI online at TFI.org.

TFI Applauds President Trump’s Signing of USMCA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) Vice President of Stewardship and Sustainability Lara Moody released the following statement regarding President Trump signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).  
 
“We commend President Trump for doing exactly what he said he would do; provide a win for agriculture and the millions of hard working men and women who grow the food, fuel and fiber that feeds our growing world by securing an improved trade deal with our two largest agricultural trading partners. In addition to President Trump, TFI thanks U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for their bipartisan efforts to put American workers and industry in a position to be able to compete on the global stage by ensuring that markets remain open and fair. President Trump signing the USMCA will strengthen U.S. agriculture and the countless communities whose economic well-being is tied directly to the soil.”

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The Fertilizer Institute (TFI)
The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is the leading voice of the nation’s fertilizer industry. Tracing its roots back to 1883, TFI’s membership includes fertilizer producers, wholesalers, retailers, and trading firms. TFI’s full-time staff, based in Washington, D.C., serves its members through legislative, educational, technical, economic information and public communication programs. Find more information about TFI online at TFI.org. Learn more about TFI’s nutrient stewardship initiatives at nutrientstewardship.org. 

TFI Applauds Trump Administration’s Finalization of WOTUS Rule

farm house
farm house

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) Vice President of Stewardship and Sustainability Lara Moody issued the following statement regarding the Trump administration’s finalization of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army repeal and replacement of the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.

“The fertilizer industry strongly supports the EPA’s and the Department of the Army’s new WOTUS rule, which provides a sustainable national water policy that both protects the environment and facilitates smart economic development. The new rule more clearly defines which waters are subject to federal jurisdiction and which waters are subject to state protection, clarity that was severely lacking in the 2015 rule.

“We have long shared EPA’s goal of improving water quality and continuously advocate for the adoption of nutrient management practices such as 4R Nutrient Stewardship (using the right fertilizer source, applied at the right rate, at the right time and in the right place) that enhance environmental protection while helping to ensure farmer profitability.

“We applaud the Trump administration, the EPA and the Department of the Army for their efforts to ensure a future with both clean water and clear rules.”

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The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is the leading voice of the nation’s fertilizer industry. Tracing its roots back to 1883, TFI’s membership includes fertilizer producers, wholesalers, retailers and trading firms. TFI’s full-time staff, based in Washington, D.C., serves its members through legislative, educational, technical, economic information and public communication programs. Find more information about TFI online at TFI.org and follow us on Twitter at @Fertilizer_Inst. Learn more about TFI’s nutrient stewardship initiatives at nutrientstewardship.org and on Twitter at @4rnutrients.