03.06.2026
Driving back home from the San Francisco Ferry yesterday, I passed my local gas station and the price per gallon had actually dropped from the $6.19 that it had topped out at in recent months— down to $5.99. I’m not complaining, but to me, it is just further proof that we are no longer tethered to any agreed definition of reality. Maybe we never were.
More concerning, and talked about much less than the price of fuel, is the effect the closed Middle East shipping lanes is having, and will have, on America’s farmers. Who knew that so much fertilizer came from that part of the world, I mean, metaphorically, sure…
One interesting byproduct of all this is learning that there are three basic types of fertilizers: phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen. Nitrogen fertilizers are primarily derived from cheap natural gas and the sulfur byproduct of oil and gas refining, two things the Middle East has in spades.* No wonder they are so explosive. The Oklahoma bombing kind of makes sense now. Not philosophically, mind you, but perhaps chemically.
Maybe that was ammonia… damned if I’m going to Google it.
Professor Rory Maguire at Virginia Tech was on the school’s Curious Conversations podcast talking about his role as extension specialist in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences as well as supervisor of the Soil Testing Laboratory. Maguire explains that our soils hold phosphorus and potassium very well, whereas nitrogen dissipates quickly and, dependiing on the crop, needs to be reapplied in order to maximize yields.
Maguire points out that chicken shit is an excellent source of nitrogen-rich fertilizer, the problem is that there just isn’t enough of it.
Perhaps someone can send him directions to Congress.
*The nitrogen itself is derived from the air, which is 78% nitrogen, another thing I didn’t know.
Román Leão 