Talk of food shortages and empty shelves has been at the forefront of agricultural discussions around the globe for more than two years as production demands have increased and farmers are scrambling to match the pace. Aggravating the economic aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain recovery efforts was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. That dealt another significant blow to global agriculture, as the conflict involves two of the world’s top wheat producers. Further impeding global farmers are the limited availability and inflated price of fertilizer. Russia is one of the world’s largest producers of fertilizer, which was a part of the U.S. sanctions list until March 24, when the Department of the Treasury removed key agricultural items from the embargo because of critical shortages. However, the move may prove ineffective as Russia’s deputy secretary of the country’s security council, Dmitry Medvedev, announced on April 1 that Moscow wouldn’t …