Farmers' President Rukwied warns of increasingly scarce fertilizer due to Iran conflict

At the same time, Rukwied pointed out that a physical bottleneck has so far not occurred. „Zwar sei ein physischer Engpass bislang ausgeblieben“, he said. Nevertheless, nitrogen prices remain structurally at a high level, „und die Vorräte für die neue Saison sind gefährlich gering“. Nitrogen fertilizer is considered particularly price-sensitive because its production is closely tied to the natural gas price.

The farmers' president also warned that prices could rise significantly again if the situation in the Gulf region further escalates and energy and gas prices pick up as a result. „Viele Höfe könnten die höheren Kosten wegen zugleich niedriger Erlöse nur noch schwer auffangen“, said Rukwied. Economically, many agricultural operations are thus under double pressure: declining producer revenues on one side, rising input costs on the other.

Cost burden on farms and looming harvest losses

According to the EU Commission, many farmers in the European Union are already applying less fertilizer because they cannot pass on the higher costs. The result, in Rukwied's assessment, is declining harvests: „Eine geringere Ernte sei das Ergebnis.“ This could mean that the tense situation on the world market will also impact food prices in Germany in the medium term.

Politically, Rukwied demanded a package of relief measures. „Es brauche deswegen Entlastungen beim Agrardiesel, eine zeitlich befristete Senkung der Energiesteuer auf das europäische Mindestniveau sowie Erleichterungen bei der CO2-Bepreisung“, he said. The association is thus targeting three central cost blocks of agricultural production: fuel for machinery, energy for fertilizers, and the CO2 component price.

Demands of the Farmers' Association

Initial reactions have already been set in motion at the EU level. The EU agriculture ministers had decided that member states could provide targeted support to affected operations to cushion the additional fertilizer costs. At the same time, the European Union has temporarily suspended tariffs on certain fertilizer imports to ease supply on the internal market.

Already adopted EU measures

Meanwhile, analysts are also watching developments at major manufacturers such as BASF with concern. Current assessments of the chemical group are mixed: Bernstein Research rates the stock as „Outperform" (17.07.26), JP Morgan Chase & Co. as „Underweight" (17.07.26), Deutsche Bank AG as „Buy" (16.07.26), and Berenberg Bank as „Hold" (16.07.26). The range of assessments reflects the uncertainty about the further development of the energy and fertilizer markets.

Rukwied sees the German federal government and the EU as obligated to act quickly. If neither relief measures nor a stabilization of the gas and fertilizer markets materialize, a chain reaction threatens: less fertilization, lower yields, rising food prices, and an additional burden on Germany's already under-pressure farms.

Reporting was provided from Berlin by dpa-AFX.