Based on past holiday history, Mitts says pump prices will likely bounce again before the Fourth of July arrives. A year ago, gas in Iowa was averaging $2.89. The average price for gas in Iowa is now $4.68 a gallon, down from the all-time record set last Wednesday of $4.76. Meredith Mitts, spokeswoman for Triple-A-Iowa, says the forecast predicts nearly 48-million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the holiday, and 42-million will travel by motor vehicle.

Travel industry experts predict the upcoming Fourth of July holiday will be the busiest-ever for travel by car, truck, S-U-V and van in Iowa and nationwide, despite record or near-record gasoline prices. The I-S-U study predicts fertilizer prices will decline in the second half of this year but they wonвЂ™t return to where they were in mid-2020 because farmer demand is high and supply chain problems still exist. Hart says there was a вЂњperfect stormвЂќ of factors but thereвЂ™s not enough evidence to say whether fertilizer companies are using their market power to hike prices. Farmers use nitrogen, phosphate and potassium-based fertilizers to help their plants grow.

The price of ammonia is up 126-percent compared to a year ago. I-S-U ag economist Chad Hart, one of the studyвЂ™s authors, says several factors caused fertilizer prices to rise, including supply chain problems, energy market fluctuations and RussiaвЂ™s invasion of Ukraine. The study was requested by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller earlier this year because of fertilizer price spikes. An Iowa State University study finds thereвЂ™s not enough evidence to show fertilizer companies are taking advantage of inflation to raise prices.

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