The conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran has caused a major increase in oil and energy prices around the world. At home, this impact has been primarily felt at the gas pump and through increases in freight costs. What is not as widely reported on, however, is how this conflict is affecting the fertilizer market.

Middle Eastern countries account for nearly 50% of globally traded urea. Because the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime shipping route, is effectively closed, the disruption is causing a short-term tightening of supply. This has resulted in higher prices worldwide. Since the conflict began on February 28, urea prices have climbed approximately 46.5% here in the United States (as of April 10).

We understand that passing unexpected price increases on to your customers would be difficult. Fortunately, ATS is uniquely positioned to help you navigate this volatile time through alternative options.

Those who can spray should consider converting some of their applications to liquid fertilizers. Pricing of liquid fertilizers has remained stable, and they are often less expensive to transport than traditional fertilizers. We offer many options through our Foliar-Pak line, as well as from various manufacturing partners, including Greene County Fertilizer and Morral Companies. Liquid fertilizers offer you flexibility and cost savings without sacrificing the performance your customers expect.

For anyone not equipped to use liquid fertilizers, now is an excellent time to consider adding a high-quality technology like polymer-coated urea (PCU) to your granular program. Using a product built with PCU allows you to use fewer total bags of fertilizer, which reduces freight costs for you. Since these products feed the turf for three months or more, you can actually make fewer fertilizer applications while still visiting customers’ properties to perform weed and pest control applications. Agronomically, PCUs are a better choice because they effectively spoon-feed nutrients to turf, eliminating the “feast or famine” cycles seen in typical all-mineral or inferior-technology programs.

I encourage you to reach out to your ATS representative to review the many liquid fertilizer and PCU options we have available. For the latest on the conflict and its impact on the fertilizer market, read our most recent update for the week of June 1, 2026.

Read previous updates below: