OMAHA (DTN) -- When it comes to fertilizer prices, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wants farmers to know the government is here to help.

Highlighting a coordinated push across the Trump administration on fertilizer challenges, Rollins on Tuesday held a press conference with three other Cabinet members, a White House economic adviser and members of Congress to lay out plans to increase access to fertilizer and lower prices.

"This (is an) all-of-government approach, and obviously, as a Reagan conservative, I cringe a little bit about saying, 'The government is here to help you.' But in this instance, this is an instance where there is a massive gap in the market. ... The national security implications of this are real."

As DTN has reported in its weekly "Retail Fertilizer Trends" column, nitrogen prices are spiking. Anhydrous ammonia, for instance, broke above $1,100 per ton last week, which is 30% higher than it was at the end of February.

Detailing various projects and moves tied to fertilizer, Rollins said she believes that "in short order, in the next year to two years," projects being developed could expand domestic nitrogen fertilizer capacity by 30%, domestic potash production by more than 100% and phosphate production by 200%.

"This is real-world change for our farmers and ranchers and for our American rural communities," she said.

While prices spiked after the war with Iran began two months ago, Rollins stressed the problem of high fertilizer prices didn't begin in the last 60 days.

Rollins pointed to short-term moves the administration has made, such as extending the waiver on the Jones Act to move fertilizer more freely from port to port. She said at least some reports showed companies used that waiver in April to move anhydrous ammonia.

The Trump administration also waived restrictions on fertilizer from Venezuela, and Rollins said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had gotten companies to commit to sending both urea and sulfur in pending shipments from Venezuela. Rollins said that move would quickly boost urea supplies.

"We believe, perhaps on its way, based on current data, (that) will fill about 57% of our April-to-June urea gap," Rollins said.

She also credited CF Industries for delaying maintenance at an ammonia plant in Louisiana to produce another 100,000 tons of nitrogen fertilizer. CF Industries is also moving forward with an ammonia plant that will add 1.4 million metric tons of capacity next year.

In their various comments, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin each said the Trump administration will lower regulatory burdens and speed up permitting processes for fertilizer manufacturing and mining in the coming months.

Lutnick committed funds to help incentivize domestic production. Rollins said the Commerce Department would invest more than $1 billion in infrastructure assistance to help develop more fertilizer projects.

"We're going to invest in domestic fertilizer manufacturing," Lutnick said. "So, if we can strengthen our domestic supply chains, our investment accelerator will create more manufacturing domestically. Here, we're also making sure we cut red tape so we can build and do it here quickly so we can provide the relief that our farmers need to make sure they're feeding America."

Interior Secretary Burgum said his department is committed to quickly permitting mining projects that would spur the production of potash and other critical minerals as well.

"I think everybody knows here we have a permitting problem," Burgum said.

Burgum noted, "We're in a position where our supply chains are too dependent on others, in particular China, controlling not only minerals but the processing."

Despite reducing the permit times, Burgum said moves to strengthen domestic supply chains would still protect the environment as well.

"We can go faster, and we can protect the environment. There is no trade-off there."

Burgum said the country's overflow of liquid natural gas (LNG) would be the key to helping drive more domestic fertilizer production. Burgum said there are areas in Texas, for instance, where oil companies can't find anyone to take all the natural gas off their hands.

"What we are doing here with energy dominance is also going to help in the long term when we start getting more of these production facilities," Burgum said.

EPA Administrator Zeldin also said he hears more about complaints of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) guidance and right-to-repair rules on DEF. He said EPA would soon be coming out with a proposed rule on nitrous oxide emissions that would end the deratement issues they face with their machinery.

Adam Telle, the assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, also said the Army Corps of Engineers, along with EPA, is accelerating Clean Water Act permits. Telle said he expects the Corps to work quickly to permit fertilizer projects. He also said the Corps now has a public comment period to expand nationwide permitting for new purposes.

"I would encourage our agricultural community, our farmers, to take full advantage of that," he said.

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said the focus on fertilizer reflects a unified effort within the Trump administration to address challenges facing agriculture.

"Every little thing we're doing for the farmers requires these agencies to coordinate," Hassett said.

USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden also discussed price discovery, saying that right now, two companies control 90% of key fertilizer inputs. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are both looking into fertilizer markets, he said.

"It's public knowledge they are investigating the fertilizer markets," Vaden said. He added, "They are issuing questions to these companies. They are examining their business practices. And we need farmers to share with us the information that they have about what they are hearing from their own fertilizer dealers."

Among U.S. senators also singing praises for the administration's fertilizer focus, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., pointed to work on agricultural technology in his home state, as well as a company converting coal to natural gas that could then be used to make fertilizer. At the same time, Hoeven also said there needs to be more aid directly provided to farmers.

"We need to do more on the Farm Bridge Assistance now in the short term," Hoeven said.

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, also said he plans to hold a hearing in May to look at possible legislation tied to fertilizer production.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said he and others were dropping a bill to remove the countervailing duties on imported phosphate. Marshall said that would lower imported phosphate prices from Morocco. Marshall said there is a package of five bipartisan bills focusing on fertilizer costs.

Rollins was asked if the administration planned to simply drop the countervailing duties on Moroccan and Russian potash. Here, she reflected that there may be some disagreement among the Cabinet.

"As with any team, there are varying views on the effectiveness of what (we) could or should do, but there will be a decision very soon," Rollins said.

While Rollins, as she is prone to do, criticized the Biden administration for not doing enough to bring down fertilizer costs, she still said USDA will use a $900 million Rural Development fund for fertilizer that was created under Biden. Those funds have $700 million committed to projects, but Rollins said more work is needed to accelerate the timelines on those projects.

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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