Farmers hit with most disruptive price hikes, supply shortages in decades as pandemic slowdowns

[TexasTowelie]

Farmers hit with most disruptive price hikes, supply shortages in decades as pandemic slowdowns catch up to Colorado


From being nestled under soil, piled into trucks, sent down conveyor belts and driven on to Walmart, Kroger and Aldi stores, the potatoes from Reid Mattive’s San Luis Valley farm have never been more expensive to grow.

Tires and machinery are hard to locate. The prices for fertilizer, fuel and fungicides are spiking. Mattive, a fourth generation farmer, may hold off on making upgrades to buildings or have to lay off some of the 65 workers who work in his fields and packing shed — a blow to a region whose driving economic force is agriculture, he said.

“It puts the squeeze on us,” he said. “(We) can’t shut off the lights and walk out of the building.”

Colorado farmers battling drought conditions and narrow profit margins are being hit with cost increases for pesticides, fertilizer and other supplies as global supply chains sputter in the wake of the pandemic. Coupled with shortages, the price hikes are the most disruptive in decades for some agricultural businesses and family farmers, who were facing steadily rising costs even before the pandemic hit.

Read more: https://coloradosun.com/2021/09/13/coloradofarmers-agricultural-supply-chain/