{"id":2591453,"date":"2026-04-16T09:19:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-iran-war-threatens-to-pull-the-plug-on-american-farmings-life-support\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T09:25:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:25:30","slug":"the-iran-war-threatens-to-pull-the-plug-on-american-farmings-life-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-iran-war-threatens-to-pull-the-plug-on-american-farmings-life-support\/","title":{"rendered":"The Iran War Threatens To Pull Plug On US Farming&#8217;s Life Support"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-iran-war-threatens-to-pull-the-plug-on-american-farmings-life-support%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2591453&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An analysis argues that teh current Middle East conflict adn rising oil prices threaten America\u2019s already energy-dependent food system. It highlights that the United States, while still a major agricultural exporter, now imports more food than it exports and relies on increasingly imported, processed foods from abroad. The piece also notes the decline of family farms, shrinking cattle herds, farmland consolidation, and aging farmers, all within a system that depends on synthetic fertilizers and energy-intensive production and distribution.<\/p>\n<p>the author warns that supply chains are fragile,as much produce originates in California and travels long distances by diesel-powered trucking,with fertilizer supplies tied to natural gas and new export restrictions from China. A disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could further destabilize urea and LNG supplies, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shades-of-jimmy-carter-gas-lines-inflation-rising-unemployment-return-under-biden\/\" title=\"Shades Of Jimmy Carter: Gas Lines, Inflation, Rising Unemployment Return Under Biden\">driving prices higher<\/a> and risking shortages, potentially more disruptive than recent pandemics. The article calls for agricultural reform toward healthier, locally produced foods, rebuilding the cattle herd, and a revamped food policy or \u201cfood pyramid\u201d focused on resilience. John Klar, the author, is a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >grass-fed beef producer<\/a> and writer who advocates for a Small Farm Republic and has written about the coming food crisis.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>As the price of oil soars and bombs strike Middle East oil and natural gas facilities, memories of the <a href=\"https:\/\/history.state.gov\/milestones\/1969-1976\/oil-embargo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">OPEC oil embargo<\/a> of the 1970s resurface for many Americans. That crisis was resolved by simply turning the oil spigots back on; this conflict threatens to blow them up. Dramatic changes in U.S. food production and distribution since the 1970s have created an even greater threat that extends beyond Iran.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The United States remains the world&rsquo;s largest agricultural exporter, but we now <a href=\"https:\/\/gigafact.org\/fact-briefs\/does-the-us-import-more-food-than-it-exports\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>import more food than we export<\/em><\/a>, resulting in a <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/4OAzZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">record deficit<\/a> in agricultural trade. Moreover, imports of highly processed foods from China <a href=\"https:\/\/organizeforliving.com\/what-percentage-of-usa-food-is-imported\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have increased<\/a> steadily. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, U.S. family farms <a href=\"https:\/\/foodprint.org\/blog\/the-slow-death-of-the-family-farm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">continue to close down<\/a> or be absorbed by large producers. The U.S. cattle herd is the smallest it has been in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drovers.com\/news\/industry\/u-s-beef-herd-continues-downward-86-2-million-head\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">75 years<\/a>. Suburban sprawl has irrevocably erased large swaths of farmland as foreigners and hedge funds buy up large tracts for solar panel arrays and investment, and our farmers are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aging.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/senate_aging_farmers_report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aging<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Since the 1970s, GMO crops have been developed that are <a href=\"https:\/\/iere.org\/what-crops-are-sprayed-with-glyphosate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dependent on chemical applications<\/a>, including synthetic fertilizers. U.S. agriculture has steadily replaced cow manure with energy-reliant substitutes, as globalists push to eradicate all bovines to &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/news.berkeley.edu\/2022\/02\/01\/global-elimination-of-meat-production-could-save-the-planet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">save the world<\/a>&rdquo; from carbon dioxide. Urea, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/it-is-pretty-ironic-radio-interview-with-teen-climate-activist-goes-sideways-in-3-2-1\/\" title=\"\u2018It Is Pretty Ironic\u2019: Radio Interview With Teen Climate Activist Goes Sideways In 3\u2026 2\u2026 1\u2026\">synthetic nitrogen fertilizer<\/a>, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.global-agriculture.com\/crop-nutrition\/why-lng-matters-for-urea-production-understanding-the-energy-foundation-of-nitrogen-fertilizers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">produced using natural gas<\/a> (aka methane). To further complicate matters, far <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tusharmangl.com\/2024\/10\/americans-grew-45-of-their-food-in-1945.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fewer Americans<\/a> grow their own food now than in the past. The nation has shifted from self-reliance to corporate dependency &mdash; this is not limited to SNAP recipients.<\/p>\n<p>The Covid pandemic revealed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.business.rutgers.edu\/business-insights\/pandemic-revealed-fragility-supply-chain-and-even-now-challenge-managing-risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fragility of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-why-a-no-fly-zone-over-ukraine-wont-work\/\" title=\"Here\u2019s Why A No...Fly Zone Over Ukraine Won\u2019t Work\">strained supply lines<\/a><\/a> under crisis. Tractor-trailer trucks move produce and meats much <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mepartnership.org\/racking-up-the-food-miles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">farther distances<\/a> than when <em>Little House on the Prairie<\/em> and <em>The Waltons<\/em> were prime time TV. Today, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdfa.ca.gov\/statistics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">about half<\/a> of the nation&rsquo;s produce is grown in California &mdash; then trucked nationwide. Those trucks rely not only on diesel fuel but also on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diesel_exhaust_fluid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">diesel exhaust fluid<\/a> (manufactured from urea), without which they don&rsquo;t run at all. In addition, China has instructed exporters there to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-03-16\/china-reins-in-fertilizer-exports-as-war-pushes-up-global-prices#:~:text=China%20is%20tightening%20its%20curbs%20on%20fertilizer%20exports,blends%20and%20reiterated%20existing%20export%20restrictions%20on%20urea.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stop shipping<\/a> urea and other fertilizers.<\/p>\n<p>Affordable food in America has long depended on cheap fuel. No society has ever enjoyed grocery shelves as plentiful or with as diverse year-round offerings. (Avocados used to be a rare seasonal luxury.) However, the technologies and energy supplies that enabled this abundance create unprecedented vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<p>This brings us to the threat posed by the current Middle East conflict. Tractors are bigger than ever, and they drink diesel. Plowing, seeding, spraying, cultivating, and harvesting all consume energy. Drying, processing, refrigeration, and packaging (plastic is derived from petroleum) all require energy. Then there is the trucking issue &mdash; a constant, dizzying just-in-time inventory network supplies all our basic nutritional needs.<\/p>\n<p>Behind all that impressive &ldquo;progress&rdquo; still lurks the ancient human dependency on the soils, plants, and livestock that modern America has become increasingly distanced from. Rural communities have shrunk while urban centers have swollen. The U.S. population was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.populationpyramid.net\/united-states-of-america\/1975\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">about 220 million<\/a> in 1975; now it exceeds 340 million, an increase of more than 50 percent in five decades.<\/p>\n<p>It may be that America rebounds from the Iran crisis favorably and without sustained pressure on oil and gas prices. Yet other threats lurk that could quickly create shortages of far more important items than toilet paper. The Strait of Hormuz is a major shipping route for fertilizers &mdash; about a third of the world&rsquo;s supplies, including about half of the world&rsquo;s supplies of the nitrogen fertilizer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/stories\/2026\/04\/beyond-oil-lng-commodities-impacted-closure-hormuz-strait\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">urea<\/a>, pass through those troubled waters. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs_external_products\/R\/PDF\/R45281\/R45281.6.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">About 20<\/a> percent of global supplies of liquid natural gas (the primary ingredient in urea production) also pass through the Strait of Hormuz. So it&rsquo;s no surprise that urea prices have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/03\/25\/fertilizer-price-iran-war-food-security-inflation-urea-potash-nitrogen-farmers.html?msockid=2e71fc465a566593345be9b25b82643f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">risen by as much as 50 percent<\/a> since the Iran conflict began,<\/p>\n<p>The disruption in Iran exposes the myriad risks to this food production system. A foreign attack using an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), nuclear bomb, or terror cells could disrupt this finely tuned supply chain far more profoundly than a pandemic. Social disruption, a financial collapse, rapid inflation, or another disease outbreak could quickly wreak more havoc than was seen a few years ago (which left <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/markets-and-finance\/commentary\/biden-pretends-rising-food-prices-are-not-problem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">grocery prices<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2024\/01\/biden-groceries-food-president-prices-costs-wage-fact-brief\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">20-30 percent higher<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Now is the time to reform U.S. agricultural and food policy. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.libertynation.com\/making-the-food-pyramid-healthy-again\/?utm_source=brevo&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Daily%20Briefing%20-%20January%208%202026&amp;utm_content=2026-01-08\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new food pyramid<\/a> requires healthier, locally produced foods, not ever more imported junk. The nation&rsquo;s cattle herd must be replenished even as consumers demand more steaks and burgers.<\/p>\n<p>America&rsquo;s energy-dependent food supply is highly vulnerable to a global spike in oil prices and to many other potential disruptions. The Iran conflict is a wake-up call to Americans to stop taking their farmers and food supplies for granted. The threat is not merely rampant food inflation. One day, a national crisis may prevent millions of Americans from obtaining any food at all.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Author and attorney John Klar raises grass-fed beef in Vermont. His Substack, <a href=\"https:\/\/johnklar.substack.com\/\">Small Farm Republic<\/a>, is based on his 2023 book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Small-Farm-Republic-Conservatives-Environmental\/dp\/1645022196\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=10E0CBD25GRRO&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.f97JeoLu294BT09Oqnaiu_OkYo11E_6YjTA4gK8L27SSr1tEXkm-jSZ1GbPFFpUDaaY9Q-Ebj-JM7-DS-O1rCd5AXWnMF2jqqhmjTAlcCFM5VTS7CetwUlfJItc78KQOwPQYDDwmuX1XvNY-LRamNwArILCZQySeG2ASzvuhcdBRLqEzp_uo_LaiIaNoPqbk_xsf7bi8VEdWyQTRLBPD2w.NU0gVMBK8M7Rn3kxzA5h0VWXSens3EtLUbJScMJ5PZk&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=john+klar&amp;qid=1773924803&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=john+klar%2Cstripbooks%2C137&amp;sr=1-2\">&#8220;Small Farm Republic.&#8221;<\/a> His latest book is called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Coming-Food-Crisis-Corporations-Activists\/dp\/1631441027\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8O65KOCVLE8W&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.f97JeoLu294BT09Oqnaiu_OkYo11E_6YjTA4gK8L27SSr1tEXkm-jSZ1GbPFFpUDaaY9Q-Ebj-JM7-DS-O1rCd5AXWnMF2jqqhmjTAlcCFM5VTS7CetwUlfJItc78KQOwPQYDDwmuX1XvNY-LRamNwArILCZQySeG2ASzvuhcdBRLqEzp_uo_LaiIaNoPqbk_xsf7bi8VEdWyQTRLBPD2w.NU0gVMBK8M7Rn3kxzA5h0VWXSens3EtLUbJScMJ5PZk&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=john+klar&amp;qid=1773924717&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=john+kla%2Cstripbooks%2C471&amp;sr=1-1\">&#8220;The Coming Food Crisis.&#8221;<\/a> John is a staff writer at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.libertynation.com\/author\/johnklar\/\">Liberty Nation News<\/a> and a contributor to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themahareport.com\/?utm_campaign=profile_chips\">&#8220;The MAHA Report&#8221;<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oil price surge recalls 1970s embargo; food at risk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1894,"featured_media":2591454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-Untitled-72.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[15721,3823,77881,50434],"class_list":["post-2591453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-agriculture","tag-iran","tag-usfarming","tag-war-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-Untitled-72.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2591453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2591453"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2591453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2591457,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2591453\/revisions\/2591457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2591454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2591453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2591453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2591453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}