Koch purchase of Iowa fertilizer plant means farmers, consumers lose
Opinion: Iowans gave up hundreds of millions of public dollars to foster fertilizer competition; was it all for nothing? asks Aaron Lehman.
In Iowa fertilizer plant purchase by Koch, farmers and consumers lose
To safeguard our economy — and indeed our democracy — our enforcers must prevent dominant firms from capitalizing on investments made with public resources.
Aaron Lehman Guest columnist
Aaron Lehman is a fifth-generation farmer from northern Polk County.
He serves as president of the Iowa Farmers Union.
Iowa farmers and consumers together are leading the call for federal and state officials to investigate the pending sale of OCI Global's nitrogen fertilizer plant in Wever, Iowa, to fertilizer goliath Koch Industries.
Now the Federal Trade Commission chair, Lina Khan, will come to central Iowa on Saturday, April 20, to listen to Iowans about the proposed sale and monopolies in agriculture, especially in the fertilizer industry.
The plant was built with more than a half billion dollars of taxpayer support. The state's largest-ever subsidy was incorrectly justified by Iowa lawmakers as a way to increase competition in the nitrogen fertilizer market. At that time, Iowa Farmers Union joined community leaders and citizen groups opposing the subsidy.
The proposed sale to Koch would reduce competition, artificially increase prices paid by farmers, and ultimately increase food prices for all Iowans. It is another painful example of public investments being misused to increase monopolies. We desperately need more competition.
Presently, four corporations, (Koch, Nutrien, CF Industries and Yara-USA) control more than 75% of the nitrogen supply. At this level of concentration, economists agree that market forces no longer work effectively to keep prices competitive. Fertilizer is one of the ag sectors where anti-competitive concentration is being challenged by the Farmers Union's ongoing Fairness to Farmers campaign.
The Iowa Farmers Union — along with 18 national ag and policy organizations — is calling on Iowa and federal officials to block the pending sale of OCI Global's nitrogen fertilizer plant at Wever to industry giant Koch Industries.
The deal will be bad for Iowa farmers, bad for Iowa's economy, and ultimately bad for consumers paying high food prices. It is a slap in the face for taxpayers who invested about $550 million (as well as $1.2 billion of Iowa Finance Authority bonds) to build the plant, now known as the Iowa Fertilizer Company, or IFCo.













