H.R. 8104

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8104 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8104

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a 
mandatory price reporting program for fertilizer, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 26, 2026

Mr. Johnson of South Dakota (for himself, Ms. Craig, Mr. Finstad, Ms. 
Davids of Kansas, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Ms. Budzinski, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. 
Riley of New York, Mr. Feenstra, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, and Mr. 
Sorensen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a 
mandatory price reporting program for fertilizer, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Fertilizer Transparency Act of 
2026''.

SEC. 2. FERTILIZER MANDATORY REPORTING.

Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 210B. FERTILIZER MANDATORY REPORTING.

``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Affiliate.--The term `affiliate' means, with respect 
to a manufacturer or wholesaler (excluding a cooperative), a 
person that directly or indirectly owns, controls, or holds, 
with voting power, not less than 5 percent of the outstanding 
voting securities of the manufacturer or wholesaler (excluding 
a cooperative).
``(2) Cooperative.--
``(A) In general.--The term `cooperative' means--
``(i) an association of agricultural 
producers acting pursuant to--
``(I) the Act entitled `An Act to 
authorize association of producers of 
agricultural products' (commonly known 
as the `Capper-Volstead Act') (7 U.S.C. 
291 et seq.);
``(II) the Agricultural Adjustment 
Act (7 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), reenacted 
with amendments by the Agricultural 
Marketing Agreement Act of 1937; or
``(III) the Act of July 2, 1926 
(commonly known as the `Cooperative 
Marketing Act') (7 U.S.C. 451 et seq.);
``(ii) a farmers' cooperative organization 
described in subsection (b)(1) of section 521 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 
from taxation under subsection (a) of that 
section; and
``(iii) an association of agricultural 
producers otherwise operating on a cooperative 
basis for the benefit of its members.
``(B) Inclusions.--The term `cooperative' includes 
any entity not less than 25 percent of which is owned 
by a cooperative, as defined in subparagraph (A).
``(3) Marketed.--The term `marketed' means the sale or 
other disposition in commerce of--
``(A) nitrogen, phosphorous, or potassium for use 
as fertilizer; or
``(B) a fertilizer product.
``(4) Retailer.--The term `retailer' means a person or 
entity that primarily sells fertilizer products at retail.
``(5) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
of Agriculture.
``(6) Wholesaler.--The term `wholesaler' means any person 
or entity, not including a cooperative, engaged in the business 
of buying and selling fertilizer or fertilizer products for 
resale or distribution.
``(b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program of 
fertilizer and fertilizer product price information reporting that 
will--
``(1) provide timely, accurate, and reliable market 
information that can be readily understood by farmers and 
market participants;
``(2) facilitate more informed marketing decisions; and
``(3) promote competition in the fertilizer and fertilizer 
products industry.
``(c) General Reporting Provisions Applicable to Manufacturers, 
Wholesalers, and the Secretary.--Whenever the prices or quantities of 
fertilizer or fertilizer products are required to be reported or 
published under this section, the prices or quantities shall be 
categorized so as to clearly delineate--
``(1) the prices or quantities, as applicable, of the 
fertilizer or fertilizer product marketed in the United States 
by a domestic manufacturer or wholesaler or an affiliate of a 
domestic manufacturer or wholesaler; and
``(2) the prices or quantities, as applicable, of the 
fertilizer or fertilizer product marketed in the United States 
by a foreign manufacturer or wholesaler or an affiliate of a 
foreign manufacturer or wholesaler.
``(d) Weekly Reporting.--
``(1) Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium.--The corporate 
officers or officially designated representatives of each 
manufacturer or wholesaler of nitrogen, phosphorous, or 
potassium for use as fertilizer shall report to the Secretary 
at least weekly--
``(A) the prices, as marketed, for nitrogen, 
phosphorous, or potassium, as applicable; and
``(B) the quantities of nitrogen, phosphorous, or 
potassium, as applicable, manufactured and marketed, as 
applicable.
``(2) Fertilizer products.--The corporate officers or 
officially designated representatives of each manufacturer or 
wholesaler of a fertilizer product shall report to the 
Secretary at least weekly--
``(A) the prices for the fertilizer product; and
``(B) the quantity of the fertilizer product 
manufactured or marketed, as applicable.
``(3) Mandatory reporting exemption for cooperatives and 
non-manufacturer retailers; voluntary reporting.--The Secretary 
shall--
``(A) exempt all cooperatives and retailers (except 
for retailers that are also manufacturers) from any 
mandatory price reporting under this section; and
``(B) provide a mechanism for cooperatives and 
retailers to voluntarily and confidentially report the 
prices and quantities described in subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of paragraphs (1) and (2)--
``(i) directly to the Secretary; or
``(ii) through the program established 
under subsection (e).
``(4) Publication.--The Secretary shall make the 
information reported to the Secretary under this subsection 
available to the public--
``(A) not less frequently than weekly; and
``(B) in a manner that ensures the information is 
published--
``(i) on a national basis; and
``(ii) on a regional or statewide basis, as 
the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
``(5) Competitive effects analysis.--The Secretary may 
conduct a competitive effects analysis of the information 
reported to the Secretary under this subsection.
``(e) Fertilizer Retail Survey.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a program 
within Market News of the Agricultural Marketing Service--
``(A) to conduct not less frequently than weekly 
surveys of retail fertilizer prices;
``(B) to obtain commercially available estimates of 
the retail prices described in subparagraph (A); and
``(C) to provide State or regional estimates or 
benchmarks and formulas to allow estimation of local 
prices.
``(2) Maintenance of existing activities.--The program 
established under paragraph (1) shall supplement, and not 
supplant, existing input price collection activities of the 
Secretary.
``(f) Summary of Data.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall, directly or through 
1 or more cooperative agreements with 1 or more affiliated 
agricultural research programs, not less frequently than weekly 
summarize and make available on a dashboard or other resource 
easily accessible to farmers and market participants--
``(A) the information reported to the Secretary 
under subsection (d); and
``(B) the retail survey prices and commercially 
available estimates obtained under subsection (e).
``(2) Protection of confidentiality.--In carrying out 
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall aggregate the information 
and data in a manner that prevents confidential business 
information and the identity of persons, including parties to a 
contract, from being disclosed publicly.
``(3) Disclosure by federal government employees.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), no 
officer, employee, or agent of the United States shall, 
without the consent of the manufacturer, wholesaler, or 
other person concerned, divulge or make known in any 
manner any facts or information regarding the business 
of the manufacturer, wholesaler, or other person that 
was acquired through reporting required under 
subsection (d).
``(B) Exception.--Information obtained by the 
Secretary under subsection (d) may be disclosed--
``(i) to agents or employees of the 
Department of Agriculture in the course of 
their official duties under this subtitle;
``(ii) as directed by the Secretary or the 
Attorney General, for enforcement purposes; or
``(iii) by a court of competent 
jurisdiction.
``(C) Disclosure under freedom of information 
act.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no 
facts or information obtained under this subtitle shall 
be disclosed in accordance with section 552 of title 5, 
United States Code.
``(g) Review.--Not less frequently than once every 2 years, the 
Secretary shall review the information required to be reported to the 
Secretary by manufacturers and wholesalers under this section.
``(h) Outdated Information.--If the Secretary determines under a 
review under subsection (g) that information required to be reported 
under this section no longer accurately reflects the methods by which 
nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium for use as fertilizer or 
fertilizer products are valued and priced by manufacturers and 
wholesalers, the Secretary shall, after public notice and an 
opportunity for comment, promulgate regulations to specify additional 
information that shall be reported under this section.
``(i) Application of Antitrust Laws.--
``(1) In general.--Nothing in this section modifies, 
impairs, or supersedes the operation of any of the antitrust 
laws.
``(2) Definition of antitrust laws.--In this subsection, 
the term `antitrust laws'--
``(A) has the meaning given the term in subsection 
(a) of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 
12); and
``(B) includes section 5 of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that such 
section applies to unfair methods of competition.''.
<all>