Farmers affected by high cost of fuel

(A great example of REAL trickle-down economics. Don't look now, but your grocery bill is going up.)


5/13/2005, 8:01 a.m. ET
By JULIANA BARBASSA
The Associated Press


FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — The farmers who grow many of the fresh fruit and vegetables for the nation's dinner tables say the rising cost of oil is making this one of their toughest planting seasons yet.
And some say the cost just might shove them out of business.

Drivers nationwide have had to pay more as political volatility and increased demand worldwide push up gas prices, said Ron Planting, an economist with the American Petroleum Institute. A barrel of crude oil sells for as much as $55, up from $35 this time last year.

But farmers are caught in a "three-way whammy," said Keith Nilmeier, who just finished harvesting his 185 acres of oranges outside Fresno. He cites the costs of the diesel that runs farming equipment, the fertilizer made by combining nitrogen with the hydrogen in natural gas, and the transportation of crops to the local supermarket.

http://www.al.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-44/1115985072283210.xml&storylist=national

:( I don't know what he is going to do.

He had a small farm/cattle-ranch in southeast Texas.
It was a constant struggle.
If he and my mother-in-law hadn't raised/caught/hunted/planted/canned almost everything that went on their table he never would have made out as well as he did. They even made their own wine.

so I guess it's not a problem.:sarcasm:

cost of fuel, that even truckers might add a fuel surcharge for every shipment? Simply amazing.

I predict alot of farmers going out of business. My dad's energy costs have doubled and we're talking about 10s of thousands of dollars here. Of course most Americans cheer farmers going out of business thinking it will lower their grocery costs which is exactly WRONG.

unless of course the 'farmer' is named archer daniels midland

that think welfare moms are the reason we are in a budget crunch, which seems like about 80% somedays.

most reasonable people realize that:
1. Welfare is a miniscule portion of the overall budget.
2. The "welfare queens" made famous by ronbo raygun NEVER EXISTED.
3. Most mothers who recieve welfare are white.

people on the right tend to believe just the opposite.

and they probably blame the tree-huggers too :eyes:

I'll bet the price of meat is headed skyward.

Want to reduce consumption? Drive responsibly and reduce meat intake.

and get a good bit of your income from farmers markets and coops, my guess is that you'd have a nice hedge against rising fuel costs.