Sylacauga, Ala. (July 1, 2023) U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that Pursell has been selected to receive $5 million in funding as part of the first $29 million in Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP) grant distributions. The first round of funding was focused on projects that can come online in the immediate term and will help Pursell and other independent businesses increase production of American-made fertilizer, which will spur competition, give U.S. farmers more choices and fairer prices and reduce dependence on unreliable foreign sources like Russia and Belarus. Vilsack made the announcement at the 2023 Commodity Classic, where he first unveiled the program a year earlier.
FPEP is part of a government-wide effort to promote competition in agricultural markets. The program supports fertilizer production that is independent, made-in-America, innovative, sustainable and farmer-focused. In all, $3 billion in funding was requested for projects that could increase production immediately for Crop Years 2023 and 2024, as well as bolster long-term availability of U.S.-produced fertilizer.
Utilizing its patented coating technology, Pursell is making a concerted push to bring urea and other substrates to its customers in a wide range of longevities previously unavailable to U.S. broadacre farmers. The FPEP grant funding will assist with working capital to increase Pursell inventory by 40,000 tons per year, with farmers realizing the benefit of increased fertilizer availability almost immediately. Each ton of CRF effectively doubles the nutrient benefit of a ton of fertilizer, making this 40,000-ton increase of CRF equivalent to 80,000 tons of uncoated fertilizer per year.