[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4152 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4152

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 19, 2026

 Mr. Thune (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Grassley, and Ms. Baldwin) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.''.
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