Iran War Fuels Fertilizer Spike Threatening Farm States Ahead of Midterms

War-driven disruption of the Strait of Hormuz is pushing up fertilizer prices, squeezing farmers’ costs and margins ahead of planting and threatening food prices. Democrats frame the shortage as an affordability issue in key farm states before the midterms, while Republicans seek to reopen Hormuz and push for farm aid and policy fixes, including potential billions in bailout spending and a push to drop fertilizer tariffs and expand ethanol use, amid broader calls for disaster and war spending.