USDA Highlights Progress in Partnering with Farmers to Increase Innovative Domestic Fertilizer Production, Expand Double Cropping through Investing in America Agenda
October 16, 2023
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted progress made in partnering with farmers and American businesses to increase innovative domestic fertilizer production and in making it easier for U.S. farmers to grow food through the practice of double cropping. USDA also announced $52.6 million in awards under the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program, which will fund 17 new projects to boost domestic fertilizer manufacturing, support innovative fertilizer technologies, and help lower costs for farmers.
As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, Secretary Vilsack announced these during a visit to Pernault Farms in Kankakee, Ill., where the double cropping practice is being utilized. Support for double cropping and domestic fertilizer production expansion are part of a broader set of commitments made in September 2022 by President Biden and Secretary Vilsack, at a nearby Kankakee Farm, to help producers boost production and address global food security. The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP) is funded by USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation and is part of a government-wide effort to spur domestic competition and combat an increase in fertilizer costs caused by the war in Ukraine.