Every time you fill your grocery cart to stock your refrigerator and pantry, you are reaping the benefits of America’s advanced natural gas industry. As one of the largest consumers of natural gas, accounting for nearly 15% of commercial and industrial natural gas demand, the U.S. agriculture sector relies heavily on natural gas to plant, grow, harvest, process, and transport food.
Reliable, affordable, and abundant, natural gas for agriculture doesn’t just fuel America’s farms, it keeps prices down for families across the country, and across the globe.
Direct and intermediate use of natural gas in agriculture
Each year, the U.S. agricultural sector consumes 1.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas, including direct use and use throughout the industrial supply chain. This includes farms, food processing facilities, and the related agrochemical sector.
These five subsectors alone account for over 2 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of consumption:
- Food processors
- Beef and dairy cattle
- Corn, wheat, and other grains
- Fertilizers and other agrochemicals
- Soybeans and other oil seeds
Agriculture is a critical component of the American economy, with the agrochemical sector alone supporting 344,000 jobs and $51 billion in U.S. GDP, a number that would dwindle without access to natural gas.
In addition to the loss of jobs and GDP, losing natural gas as an energy source would significantly impact total food production and the cost of food to end consumers.
Concerns over the price of food
According to a poll conducted by Morning Consult, 95% of Americans are concerned about the cost of food and 83% of adults fear a natural gas ban would lead to higher food prices. This direct link between availability of natural gas and affordable food is a driving force that leads most Americans from all walks of life to oppose natural gas bans. Savvy consumers understand that access to abundant natural gas for agriculture is vital for keeping food reasonably priced.
Natural gas secures agricultural supply chains
Advanced crop technologies and stable domestic supply chains drive the American agricultural sector to be the most efficient and productive in the world, but without access to natural gas, farmers would be forced to rely on costly imports from Russia and China (the world’s top two producers of ammonia) to manufacture fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.
Over the past 15 years, an increase in domestic natural gas production has allowed the agrochemical sector to ramp up domestic ammonia production capacity, leading to higher rates of U.S.-made fertilizer and lower rates of imports.
America’s ability to make our own fertilizer is an important aspect of protecting agricultural supply chains and maintaining an advantage over foreign competitors. In addition to supporting food security, the stronger our domestic agrochemical industry, the cheaper farmers can grow and harvest crops. The domestic abundance and affordability of natural gas helps the U.S. economy produce the agrochemicals needed to increase crop yields, which in turn lowers the cost of food products to the consumer.
As the largest exporter of food in the world, the United States isn’t just keeping nourishment affordable at American supermarkets, we are feeding the world – and our farmers need natural gas to continue to do so.
A natural gas ban would be bad for American agriculture
Natural gas bans are bad for American business and this reality is even more pronounced in the farming sector. Natural gas for agriculture doesn’t just provide energy for producing affordable fertilizer, it powers vital farm equipment and makes it possible for farmers to improve sustainability through the capture and repurposing of renewable natural gas(RNG).
Americans of all political leanings overwhelmingly oppose bans on natural gas for a wide range of reasons, with worries over higher food prices noted as a primary concern.
U.S. farmers need natural gas to keep their operations running, and to continue to put more affordable food on American tables across the country.