By Clint Thompson
Blake Thaxton, executive director of the Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (AFVGA), implores his farmers to be proactive instead of being reactive with adjusting to the current surge in input costs.
“Our overall message is to make sure you’re addressing your input needs as early as possible to get ahead of any kind of delays that you may have in shipping or if you need to adjust to a different kind of fertilizer or product for input simply because you can’t get the product,” Thaxton said. “That’s our overall message, just get ahead of it and look into those things earlier than you typically would so that you have time to make those adjustments.”
Expenses for freight, fertilizer and diesel have surged in recent months. One industry expert believes the supply chain issues could linger in 2023.
“It’s not just the fertilizers. It’s the chemistry. Glyphosate is up 255% year over year; a lot of the key chemistries. Seed pricing is up. Labor is up, gas, fuel. Machinery is scarce because of supply chain issues,” said Sam Taylor, executive director for Rabobank, a financial services company.
He added that phosphate, which is used to produce phosphorous, one of the main nutrients used in fertilizers, could be 10% short of demand for the upcoming season. So much uncertainty brings unpredictability for Alabama farmers heading into next season.
“I don’t know if we know what the answer is right now. We are in total support of bringing those input costs down by any means necessary. Whatever needs to be done at the legislative level to help the growers, we’re in support of that,” Thaxton said.