Vance announces domestic fertilizer investment for Nebraska

Vice President Vance announced a $1.3 billion investment in fertilizer manufacturing while rallying for Republicans in Nebraska on Thursday.

Vance said incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), who is running for reelection to keep his seat in the upper chamber, “ has been fighting for your farmers ” before making the investment announcement.

He said one of the two companies receiving funding, TalusAg, will be opening two manufacturing facilities in the state.

“What this means, not just for Nebraska but for the entire country, is that 32,000 farmers, farmers who are farming over 4 million acres all across the United States of America, they are going to have fertilizer at a lower cost and made by American hands right here in the United States of America,” Vance said.

It comes amid high fertilizer costs due to the Iran war.

The administration has made several agriculture-related announcements to help mitigate the high costs for farmers in the U.S. Farm state Republicans have been pushing for the administration to do something about high diesel prices amid the war with Iran.

President Trump earlier this week announced an $8 billion Harvest Fuel Relief Program while at a rally in Kansas for incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and other Republican candidates in the state.

He said the $8 billion will “offset diesel costs during this harvest season.”

“Roger Marshall is the leader who fought for that to happen,” he said. “Roger got it to happen.”

The $8 billion fund will be available for one-time payments to farmers, a release from the Agriculture Department said.

Trump also said he would allow for the sale of E15 — a fuel blended with 15 percent of ethanol — year-round instead of it being restricted during the summer months for environmental reasons, but he tied it to Marshall winning his reelection bid.

Trump also signed an executive order earlier this month expanding the availability of red-dyed diesel. It is diesel with red dye added to it to signal that it is tax-exempt. It is typically used in farm and construction equipment.

The president signed that order while at a rally for Ricketts and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R).