The Feed

Nitrogen is the single most important plant nutrient in today’s commercial fertilizers. It’s essential for making sure plants are healthy as they grow and nutritious to eat after they’re harvested. But today in agriculture, we take for granted N’s ready availability.

WASHINGTON, D.C., (October 22, 2014) – Alan Jones and his crew run a farming operation that includes more than 3,600 acres of crops and even more where he runs cattle. Keeping the soil healthy ensures that high-quality potatoes, green beans and citrus continue to be part of our food supply.

With the 2014 World Fertilizer Conference right around the corner, I thought it was a good time to revisit the global nature of our industry. With the world’s population expected to top 9 billion by 2050, food security is one of humanity’s greatest challenges. With only a finite amount of arable land on the planet, farmers will have to boost crop production in areas already being cultivated.

Food security goes beyond just having enough food. For people around the world to be truly healthy, they need access to a balanced diet that includes all of the essential nutrients – primary, secondary and micronutrients. We get the majority of our nutrients from the food we eat. Our food, in turn, gets its nutrients from the soil, but often what’s in the soil simply isn’t enough. That’s where fertilizer comes in.