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Food prices expected to rise as war hits fertilizer supply

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom
Published March 16, 2026 at 11:46 AM EDT
Young cotton plants cover acres on a farm in Bolton, Miss., July 13, 2018. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP)
Rogelio V. Solis/AP
Young cotton plants cover acres on a farm in Bolton, Miss., July 13, 2018. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP)

As spring planting season begins, Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd speaks with David Bowen, a fourth-generation farmer in Mississippi who is concerned that if the war with Iran continues, he won’t be able to buy enough fertilizer. Roughly one-third of the world’s fertilizer ingredients are shipped through the nearly-closed Strait of Hormuz.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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