Findings and purposes

(a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Fertilizer, including nitrogen, phosphate, and potash products, is an essential agricultural input and vital to the stability of domestic and global food supplies. (2) Unstable fertilizer prices and supply disruptions in recent years have significantly increased production costs for farmers and ranchers and threatened food security and rural economies. (3) Rising fertilizer prices squeeze already thin farm margins, forcing producers to cut back on inputs or acreage, which can lower yields and ultimately drive up food prices for United States consumers. (4) Concentration in global fertilizer markets and reliance on imports that transit chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz heighten the vulnerability of the United States to supply shocks and geopolitical risks. (5) A federally managed strategic reserve of fertilizer product inputs, similar to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, could help mitigate the impacts of severe supply disruptions, price spikes, and other market emergencies, including those caused or exacerbated by avoidable policy-driven conflicts. (b) Purposes The purposes of this Act are— (1) to require a study to evaluate— (A) the feasibility of establishing a Strategic Fertilizer Reserve for the storage and management of fertilizer products and fertilizer product inputs; (B) best practices for the locations, development, operation, and maintenance of, and withdrawals from, the Strategic Fertilizer Reserve; (C) best practices relating to emerging fertilizer technologies and nutrient management practices; (D) the establishment of an independent agency of the United States Government, to be known as the Strategic Fertilizer Reserve Agency, to reduce the impact of disruptions in supplies of fertilizer products on United States agricultural producers and consumers, including those arising from avoidable policy-driven conflicts and mismanagement of foreign policy; and (E) means to ensure that the management and operation of the Reserve are conducted with strict conflict of interest safeguards and transparency; and (2) to authorize the establishment of the Strategic Fertilizer Reserve and the Strategic Fertilizer Reserve Agency.