Idaho farmers are struggling with massive increases in food costs, the Idaho Farm Bureau says, and prices are only expected to continue rising.
“Farmers are getting hit by higher costs every which way,” said Hammett farmer Nick Blanksma.
He estimates his overall farm production costs are up at least 30% over the past year.
“All of our prices are way up,” he said. “Our costs are up on every input we have.”
Prices were on the rise before the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, which only seems to have made the problem worse. Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of several things necessary to running a farm, including wheat and fertilizer.
North Idaho farmer Bill Flory said some costs like fertilizer are twice as expensive as they were last year. “We are facing a lot higher input costs,” he said.
Ranchers and dairy farmers are also struggling under the rising cost of feed.
"If there’s any good news, it’s that Idaho and U.S. farmers are plowing ahead with their annual food production plans, despite the great uncertainty," said Bryan Searle, a potato farmer from Shelley and the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation president. “While increasing food costs are concerning, fallow farm fields on a large scale would be frightening, but we are not seeing that happening.”