## Farm subsidies were supposed to save family farmers. Instead, they’ve become a wealth-transfer machine from taxpayers to fertilizer monopolies, seed giants, and chemical cartels.
*By Beef News | Research conducted 2026-02-03*
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**RESEARCH PARAMETERS**
– **Domain**: Activist-Corporate Collusion + Regulatory Architecture – **Tier**: VI (Monopoly Mask-Off) with policy mechanism breakdown – **Primary Sources**: Farm Action subsidy analysis, EWG subsidy database, USDA GAO reports, Yara fertilizer industry handbook
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Every year, Congress debates **billions in farm subsidies**—crop insurance, Price Loss Coverage, disaster relief. The story is always the same: farmers are hurting, costs are rising, and they ne ed help.
So lawmakers open the spigot. Taxpayer money flows. And farmers… **stay broke**.
Why? Because the **farm safety net** is a lie.
It’s not a safety net. It’s a **hamster wheel**—and the corporations running it are getting rich while farmers run themselves to death.
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## THE CYCLE: HOW MONOPOLIES TURN SUBSIDIES INTO PROFITS
Here’s how the scam works:
**Step 1**: Input monopolies—**fertilizer, seed, and chemical companies**—raise their prices. Not based on production costs. Not based on supply and demand. Based on **what they know farmers can pay**.
**Step 2**: With costs climbing, farmers turn to **Congress for help**. They can’t make ends meet. They need relief.
**Step 3**: Lawmakers respond by **raising subsidies** through programs like [crop
insurance](https://farmaction.us/2023/03/02/crop-insurance-how-the-big-farms-get-bigger/) or Price Loss Coverag
e, hoping to throw farmers a lifeline.
**Step 4**: As soon as the money is available, input companies **raise prices again**, capturing the new subsidy dollars for themselves.
**Step 5**: Farmers are back where they started—broke. They go back to Congress. The cycle repeats.
[Taxpayer dollars meant to support
farmers](https://farmaction.us/how-monopolies-cash-in-on-farm-subsidies/) become **guaranteed corporate profits**. Farmers remain trapped, their margins squeez
ed no matter how much aid is provided.
This isn’t a market failure. **It’s a rigged pricing system.**
—
## THE SMOKING GUN: FERTILIZER PRICES TRACK SUBSIDIES, NOT COSTS
Most people assume prices rise and fall with supply and demand. But in agriculture, the largest input suppliers play by **different rules**.
One of the nation’s biggest nitrogen fertilizer companies, **Yara**, [admitted in its 2018 Fertilizer Industry
Handbook](https://www.yara.com/siteassets/investors/057-reports-and-presentations/o ther/2018/fertilizer-industry-handbook-2018-with-notes.pdf) that **about half of fertilizer price changes are tied to grain prices**.
Read that again: **Fertilizer prices aren’t based on production costs. They’re based on what farmers earn.**
> “About half of fertilizer price changes are tied to grain prices.” > — Yara Fertilizer Industry Handbook (2018)
Translation: When farmers earn more—whether from higher crop prices or new subsidies—**fertilizer companies raise prices to capture it**.
This isn’t price discovery. It’s **price extraction**.
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## WHO CONTROLS THE INPUTS? THREE COMPANIES DOMINATE FERTILIZER
The fertilizer industry is one of the most concentrated in all of agriculture. Just **three companies** dominate the North American market:
**Nitrogen Fertilizer CR4 (North America): 82%**
– **CF Industries**: 39% of total nitrogen capacity (37% ammonia, 42% urea) – **Nutrien**: 22% of total nitrogen capacity (21% ammonia, 25% urea) – **Koch Industries**: 15% of total nitrogen capacity (14% ammonia, 16% urea) – **Yara**: 6% of total nitrogen capacity (6% ammonia, 7% urea)
**Phosphate Fertilizer CR2 (North America): 90%**
– **Mosaic**: Produces **64% of phosphate rock mined in the U.S.**, **80% of phosphate fertilizers manufactured in North America**, and controls **over 90% of phosphate-fertilizer sales to U.S.
farmers**.
– **Nutrien**: Controls the remainder with Mosaic.
– Only **two other firms** (J.R. Simplot and Itafos) produce phosphate in North America.
**Potash Fertilizer CR2 (North America): 90%+**
– **Nutrien**: Produces **55-60% of the potash mined in North America** annually, controls **40% of potassium-fertilizer sales**. – **Mosaic**: Produces **35% of North America’s potash output**, controls **35% of continent’s potassium fertilizer sales**.
– Only **three other firms** in the entire country produce potash fertilizer—and none are remotely large enough to compete.
[Source: Farm Action Agriculture Consolidation Data
Hub](https://farmaction.us/concentrationdata/)
When three companies control **82% of nitrogen**, two companies control **90% of phosphate**, and two companies control **90% of potash**, there is no competition.
There is only **coordinated extraction**.
—
## SEEDS AND CHEMICALS: THE SAME STORY
Fertilizer isn’t the only input monopoly gaming the subsidy system. The **seed and agrichemical industries** are just as concentrated—and just as predatory.
**Global Seed CR4: 51%**
– Bayer: 23%
– Corteva: 17%
– ChemChina: 7%
– BASF: 4%
**Global Agrichemical CR4: 62%**
– ChemChina: 24.6%
– Bayer: 16%
– BASF: 11.3%
– Corteva: 10.4%
**U.S. Corn Seed CR4: 80%**
– Corteva: 38.3%
– Bayer: 33.3%
– AgReliant: 6.8%
– Syngenta: 5%
**U.S. Soybean Seed CR4: 70%**
– Corteva: 37.7%
– Bayer: 28.2%
– Syngenta: 9.2%
– AgReliant: 3%
**U.S. Seed Genetics for Corn, Soybeans, and Cotton CR2: 90%**
– **Bayer and BASF** control **90% of trait acres** for corn, soybeans, and cotton.
[Source: Farm Action Agriculture Consolidation Data
Hub](https://farmaction.us/concentrationdata/)
When four companies control **51% of global seeds**, four companies control **62% of agrichemicals**, and **two companies control 90% of seed genetics**, there is no innovation.
There is only **rent extraction**.
—
## WHO REALLY WINS? (SPOILER: NOT FARMERS)
Let’s be clear about who benefits from the subsidy cycle:
### **Farmers: Subsidies In, Costs Out**
Subsidies arrive. Input costs rise to absorb them. Farmers’ margins **stay squeezed**. The promised relief **never arrives**.
### **Taxpayers: Billions Spent, Little Benefit**
Congress appropriates **billions** for farm relief. Most of it doesn’t reach family farmers—it flows straight to **corporate input
suppliers**.
### **Agribusiness Giants: Guaranteed Profits**
Fertilizer, seed, and chemical companies—already **highly concentrated and powerful**—capture more profit with every round of government support.
The subsidy isn’t a safety net. **It’s a siphon.**
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## WHEN GOOD PROGRAMS GO WRONG
Programs like **crop insurance** and [**reference price
guarantees**](https://farmaction.us/2023/11/03/family-farmers-need-support-increasing-reference-prices-isnt-the-answer/) were originally d
esigned to stabilize farmers and ensure a reliable food supply.
But over time, they’ve been **bent to serve the largest operations**:
– The **top 10% of farms** receive [**more than three-quarters of
commodity payments**](https://www.ewg.org/research/updated-ewg-farm-subsidy-database-shows-largest-producers-reap-billions-despi te-climate).
– Just **2% of farms** captured [**more than one-third of crop
insurance subsidies**](https://www.agriculturedive.com/news/crop-insurance-usda-farms-premiums-gao-report/701718/) in a single year
.
– **Young and beginning farmers** are often
[**excluded**](https://www.brownfieldagnews.com/news/young-farmers-want-base-acres-changes/) because payments are tied to **”base acres”** that only l
arger, established farms control.
Instead of protecting farmers, these programs **fuel the subsidy cycle**—reinforcing a system where **corporations, not farmers, come out on top**.
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## THE MECHANISM: HOW MONOPOLIES CAPTURE SUBSIDIES
**Step 1: Market Concentration Eliminates Price Competition**
When three companies control **82% of nitrogen fertilizer**, there is no competitive market. There is only **coordinated pricing**.
**Step 2: Price Discrimination Based on Farmer Earnings**
Fertilizer companies **track grain prices and subsidy levels**. When farmers earn more, input prices rise to absorb it.
This is explicit. Yara admitted it. **Half of fertilizer price changes are tied to grain prices**—not costs.
**Step 3: Lobbying to Expand Subsidies**
Input monopolies **lobby Congress to expand farm subsidies**—knowing the money will flow back to them through higher input prices.
This is why the **National Corn Growers Association** (funded by seed and chemical companies) and the **American Soybean Association** (also corporate-backed) consistently lobby for **higher ref
erence prices and expanded crop insurance**.
It’s not about helping farmers. **It’s about expanding the subsidy pool** so monopolies can capture more.
**Step 4: Regulatory Capture Prevents Antitrust Enforcement**
The **USDA**, **DOJ**, and **FTC** have the authority to break up these monopolies under the **Sherman Act** and **Clayton Act**.
They don’t.
Why? **Revolving door**. Former industry executives staff USDA. Former USDA officials land at agribusiness lobbying firms.
Example: **Tom Vilsack**, current USDA Secretary, was CEO of the **U.S. Dairy Export Council** (a checkoff-funded lobbying group) between his two stints at USDA. His combined compensation from c heckoff-funded roles? [**$1.5
million**](https://farmaction.us/2023/04/12/checkoff-corruption/).
He’s not the exception. **He’s the model.**
—
## THE BOTTOM LINE: FARMERS DON’T WANT SUBSIDIES—THEY WANT FAIR MARKETS
Farmers don’t want to be on the hamster wheel. They want a **fair chance to make a living** from their hard work.
That means:
### **1. Reform Crop Insurance So It Works for Small and Mid-Sized Farms**
Cap subsidies for mega-operations. Redirect support to **young, beginning, and underserved farmers** who are locked out by the “base acres” system.
### **2. End Subsidy Hikes That Pad Corporate Profits**
Stop raising reference prices and insurance coverage when input monopolies are waiting to absorb the increase.
### **3. Enforce Antitrust Laws to Rein In Consolidation**
Break up fertilizer, seed, and chemical monopolies under the **Sherman Act**. These industries are **textbook oligopolies** and violate existing law.
The DOJ should **investigate and prosecute** coordinated pricing and market allocation.
### **4. Expand Safety Net Access for Young and Beginning Farmers**
Decouple subsidies from **”base acres”**—a system that locks new farmers out while subsidizing the largest operations.
### **5. Tie Subsidies to Stewardship, Not Production**
Reward farmers for building **healthy soil and resilient food systems**—not for maximizing short-term yields with monopoly inputs.
—
## THE CHOICE
The farm safety net was meant to **protect farmers**. But corporate power has twisted it into a system that **drains public dollars** while leaving farmers stuck.
Farmers are running as hard as they can. But the wheel just keeps spinning—and the corporations running it are getting richer.
**This isn’t a market.** It’s a **wealth-transfer machine** from taxpayers to monopolists.
And it will keep running until we **break the wheel**.
—
**Want to support farmers who aren’t feeding the monopoly?** Find independent producers at
**[BeefMaps.com](https://beefmaps.com)**—where your dollar goes to the farmer, not the fertilizer cartel.
—
## PRIMARY SOURCES
– [Farm Action: How Monopolies Cash In on Farm
Subsidies](https://farmaction.us/how-monopolies-cash-in-on-farm-subsidies/) – [Farm Action: Agriculture Consolidation Data
Hub](https://farmaction.us/concentrationdata/)
– [Yara: Fertilizer Industry Handbook 2018
(PDF)](https://www.yara.com/siteassets/investors/057-reports-and-presentations/other/2018/fertilizer-industry-handbook-2018-with-notes.pdf) – [EWG: Farm Subsidy Database – Top 10% Receive 75%+ of
Payments](https://www.ewg.org/research/updated-ewg-farm-subsidy-database-shows-largest-producers-reap-billions-despite-climate) – [Agriculture Dive: GAO Report on Crop Insurance
Concentration](https://www.agriculturedive.com/news/crop-insurance-usda-farms-premiums-gao-report/701718/) – [Brownfield Ag News: Young Farmers Excluded by Base Acres
System](https://www.brownfieldagnews.com/news/young-farmers-want-base-acres-changes/) – [Farm Action: Checkoff Corruption – Tom Vilsack’s
$1.5M](https://farmaction.us/2023/04/12/checkoff-corruption/) – [Farm Action: Crop Insurance – How the Big Farms Get
Bigger](https://farmaction.us/2023/03/02/crop-insurance-how-the-big-farms-get-bigger/) – [Farm Action: Reference Prices Aren’t the
Answer](https://farmaction.us/2023/11/03/family-farmers-need-support-increasing-reference-prices-isnt-the-answer/)
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*Research conducted under the Beef Research Protocol | Tier VI (Monopoly Mask-Off) with policy mechanism breakdown*
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