The fertilizer industry shares the public’s concern with the health of the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers’ use of fertilizers is more efficient than it has ever been in history. Corn alone accounts for half of total U.S. fertilizer use, and when compared to 1980, U.S. farmers have more than doubled corn production. They also use 45 percent less nitrogen and 59 percent less phosphate to grow one bushel of corn than they did in 1980.