Farm Bureau Survey Finds Fertilizer Concerns Run Deep for U.S. Farmers
Faith Parum, Ph.D.
Economist
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
photo credit: Arkansas Farm Bureau, used with permission.
Faith Parum, Ph.D.
Economist
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
The American Farm Bureau Federation surveyed farmers regarding their long-term concerns about fertilizers. Chad Smith has more on the findings.
Smith: The American Farm Bureau Federation surveyed more than 5,000 farmers and ranchers across the country about the rapidly increasing price of fertilizer. Faith Parum, an economist for the Farm Bureau, said the survey found that an overwhelming majority of survey respondents said they can’t afford all the fertilizer they need.
Parum: Fertilizer purchasing patterns are different by regions, and so, in the Midwest, it's more normal to pre-book your fertilizer. So, over 67 percent of our farmers in the Midwest pre-booked their fertilizer, compared to only 19 percent in the South, and so we're really seeing regional differences, and farmers who didn't pre-book really got hit by those price increases.
Smith: Parum said the differences in regional purchasing patterns are related to the commodities farmers grow as well as the overall differences in the farm economy.
Parum: Farmers in the South right now are a little bit more price sensitive. We've seen really low commodity prices for things like peanuts, cotton, and rice. When fertilizer was already expensive before the conflict, they were kind of hoping and waiting to see if that price would go back down, but unfortunately, that's not the case this year.
Smith: Those fertilizer increases are combining with rising fuel prices and squeezing bottom lines further.
Parum: One we're seeing again those increases in fertilizer prices, but we're also seeing an increase in fuel prices. So, this continues to tighten margins for farmers and ranchers across the country. Even if the conflict stopped today and we saw normal shipments resuming, it would take a while for those prices to come back down to normal. So, we're going to see the impacts of this for a few months ahead.
Smith:Learn more at fb.org. Chad Smith, Washington.
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