FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative approves of the announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today sharing its investment of $250 million to support independent, innovative and sustainable American fertilizer production to supply American farmers.
“The past two years have revealed so much for how important our supply chains are for production agriculture, and how farmers rely on various inputs from overseas to do our work, whether that is fertilizer or replacement parts for equipment,” says John Rettler, dairy farmer from Neosho, Wis. and president of FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative. “We applaud today’s announcement of the USDA’s investment into building an independent, innovative and sustainable source of fertilizer made right here in America to supply American farmers.”
Rettler added, “Greater independence from foreign imports of inputs is a policy priority for FarmFirst, and even without the supply chain challenges we’re facing, or the unprovoked war Russia has brought on Ukraine, it simply makes sense for American farmers to have a reliable, domestically produced source of fertilizer.”
Today’s announcement mirrors the policy priority adopted by FarmFirst members at the cooperative’s annual meeting held in mid-February, which reiterated their support of domestically produced inputs to reduce our reliance on foreign-made products.