How are Fuel Prices Affecting Farmers?

I wrote this article last week for the Oregon State Extension Small Farms newsletter and thought I'd share it here:

We are all feeling the dramatic rise in the cost of fuel over the past few months. For the first time in years, Americans are changing their driving habits to reflect the ever increasing expense of filling up their gas tanks. Fuel prices are affecting most businesses, whether from increased expenses or decreased consumer spending, or both. So how has the rise in fuel affected small farmers? On a positive note, small, local farms are beginning to be more competitive with larger farms that truck or ship their produce across the country and world, and are more reliant of mechanization. Consumers increasingly understand the significance of supporting small farms in an effort to maintain local food security. Most farmers who sell their produce at the Rogue Valley Growers markets this year sell out routinely and can’t seem to bring enough of their products to market. At the Siskiyou Coop, we expanded our CSA membership and filled up. All of this seems to bode well for the small farmer…
But here is the bad news: the cost of farming has risen just as sharply as fuel prices. Not only is driving to distribution points and filling tractor tanks dramatically more expensive, but the cost of almost all inputs have also skyrocketed. From irrigation parts to fertilizer to animal feed, prices have doubled or tripled since last year. Nitrogen fertilizer, for example, is manufactured by natural gas, so an increase in natural gas prices has a direct and rapid effect on farmers and ranchers. Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Randy White, who has also been a rancher most of his life, noted that “even the price of twine has gone up!” White also commented that “with the cost of fertilizing my pastures tripled and the cost of feeding my cows in the winter doubled, I have to ask myself how long I want to stay in this business.” White Oak Farm’s Taylor Starr reports that the bottom line is that he is making less money this season. For small farmers, many of whom are struggling to stay in business, the increase in costs could be make or break. Josh Cohen of Barking Moon Farm explained that it is difficult to raise prices enough to accurately reflect costs without making customers balk and walk away. Consumer education about the costs of farming is an important piece of the puzzle.
So how do we make farming, such a vital part of our economy, landscape and very survival, financially sustainable?
Some farmers, like Chris Jagger of Blue Fox Farm, have used innovation to make their farms more fuel efficient. Chris uses a solar-powered electric cultivating tractor on his farm, and encourages other farmers to follow his lead. For information on converting an Allis Chalmers cultivating “G” tractor to an electric vehicle, check out this website http://www.flyingbeet.com/electricg/. Nationwide, a number of farmers are now switching over to animal power by modifying their equipment. While the training of animals to pull equipment can be initially time-consuming, the long term savings in fuel costs can be dramatic.
Necessity may not only be the mother of invention, but also the mother of collaboration. Here at the Siskiyou Sustainable Cooperative, we distribute our produce collectively, thus making more efficient use of equipment and fuel. In the OSU Extension Small Farms program, we are working to develop local markets for grains, hops and other products, so that producers and consumers will have less distance to travel. Farmers have a greater incentive to share equipment and other supplies, and reuse or salvage any items they can. While it may be a precarious time for small farms, there is an ever greater need for locally produced food and fiber.