02/08/2022
Worth the read.
https://www.facebook.com/100024879203462/posts/873101256862506/
Let's talk about some facts of the times for this week's . We are 28 days into 2022 and I am already flush with challenges. While most people are thinking about W2's, tax refunds, or football, I'm concerned about the future. This is a bit lengthy, but let me explain.
Fact #1: Inflation is the highest it has been in my lifetime. For you, that means higher gas prices and higher grocery prices. For farmers, that means nearly every input we use is more expensive. When you factor in the rising land values and rent, our cost of production is going up significantly.
Fact #2: Fertilizer prices have increased 100% since last year at this time. Some fertilizers have more than doubled. Chemicals have also increased significantly, some cases double over one year ago. Supply issues have also caused some availability issues for some of the more commonly used ag chemicals.
Fact #3: External challenges are piling up in addition to the cost of production. Whether you consider the ever increasing H2A wage rate, the availability of labor, competition from development for farmland, or regulatory uncertainty, there are many compounding challenges that are completely outside of our control.
These facts mean that I am trying to figure out how to break even this year. Read that again. I'm going to work all year and pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into the ground and hope to end up with what I started with. This is a pretty bleak outlook. Couple this with the external challenges and you can lose sleep wondering why any one would want to farm in this environment. I often get asked how do you do it all? Why are you involved in so much STUFF? The answer is simple. I have to. One of the many things I'm involved in is a committee to update the land use plan for my County. As the fastest growing County in the state and a significant agriculture County, development is a huge threat to agriculture due to farmland loss. At our meeting last night I was told by a fellow committee member and self-described entrepreneur that I might not be able to farm in my County anymore due to "progress." This was a gut punch to me. While what he said may be true, the fact that his dreams as an "entrepreneur" are deemed more important than my dreams as an agricultural entrepreneur was a problem for me. He had no understanding of modern agriculture, our challenges, nor our successes. None. In his eyes, agriculture is a stumbling block for progress. Unfortunately, he is not alone. He's the reason I have to be involved. He is the reason I started this weekly post. Education, transparency, and telling the story of modern agriculture is more important now than ever before. This leads me to my self-proclaimed word of the year for 2022: Resolve.
Resolve as a noun is defined as a firm determination to do something. I took this picture this evening as I untangled the flag on top of our grain bin. Make no mistake. My head isn't hung in despair. Rather, I'm taking a breath and getting ready to go to work. Agriculture is our largest industry. It is the basis for our independence. It is the first line of defense for conservation and sustainability. I am absolutely resolved to keep telling that story until the Good Lord calls me home. May God bless you with resolve for your beliefs. As always, .
