Wisconsin Farmers Looking at Another Uncertain Growing Season

Friday, March 27th, 2026 -- 10:01 AM

(Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin farmers are once again facing market uncertainty heading into planting for the year.

According to Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio, while tariffs shook up markets last year, this spring’s volatility is due to the war in Iran and the impact on global markets.

The conflict has not only affected oil and gas prices but has dramatically slowed shipments of nitrogen fertilizers from Gulf countries. According to NPR, about a third of all global fertilizer shipments go through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Most farmers have already purchased their fertilizers for the upcoming growing season, according to agribusiness professor Kevin Bernhardt from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

But he said many producers don’t yet have the products in hand, with spring planting just around the corner. “Even though they paid for it, they’re still at risk, potentially, to not have the actual product when they need it,” Bernhardt said.

Brian Madigan, vice president of agronomy for Country Visions Cooperative in Brillion, said earlier this spring, some ag advisors were suggesting farms take a slower approach to buying the fertilizer they need. That’s because fertilizer costs were already at a level that would make it difficult for farmers to turn a profit with ongoing low crop prices.

But Madigan said the situation changed overnight when the U.S. and Israel dropped the first bombs in Iran on Feb. 28. “When something like this happens, you can’t get a hold of everybody quick enough,” he said. “It’s hard to carry out all those transactions that quickly.”

Madigan said much of the fertilizer used in Wisconsin is made in the U.S., so the delay in shipments coming from the Middle East will have less of an impact on availability. But he said the situation overseas does mean any impact to U.S. refineries, such as a tornado, flood or other natural disaster, would be catastrophic.

“Normal things that do happen, we absorb it,” he said. “Now, we’ve already taken away where probably 20 percent or better of our product would come from. So you want to make sure we have that ability to react in our country.”

Higher fuel prices are also likely to eat into farmers’ profits this year, according to Bernhardt. He said many producers pre-purchase the fuel needed for preparing and planting their fields in the spring. But that’s only one part of their business that relies on fuel.

“Everything that is delivered to their farm or hauled away from their farm over the next year, if those diesel prices are higher, that’s going to have an impact,” Bernhardt said. It’s unclear how long the war in Iran and its impact on prices will last this year.

Madigan said he thinks the market could improve quickly as long as oil and gas infrastructure in the Middle East isn’t damaged. But Bernhardt said farmers will likely be better off if they take advantage of risk management tools like contracting a price for their crop this fall.

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