By Sheila Phibbs
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—The cost of living is a regular topic of conversation as it seems that the price of everything is on the rise. Farmers are no strangers to the rising costs of business as they face an increase in the price of many day-to-day expenses. Fortunately for consumers, they are committed to keep working to get food on our tables.
Henk Lise, President of the Haldimand Federation of Agriculture (HFA), says fuel and fertilizer are among the many rising costs affecting farmers. He recently saw an increase of more than 50 cents per litre for fuel over a two-week period. This is significant as tractors are used daily for farm practices such as feeding livestock and field work.
Fertilizer required for crops used to feed livestock has tripled, but the market price for cattle has only doubled. Lise explains, “We (farmers) buy retail but sell wholesale. The processors and retailers set the prices.”
According to Lise, HFA advises its members to know their costs and look d own the road to the market costs. He suggests, “Farmers are going to have to sharpen their pencils this year.”
Anna Haupt is accustomed to watching costs as she and her husband Mark McCutcheon operate a 400-acre dairy farm in Canfield with their four children. She puts it simply, “The cost increases we are experiencing on the farm encompass literally all of our inputs.”
Haupt describes the increase of purchased feeds as “drastic”, including pellets fed in the robot, mineral, soybean meal, calf starter, and milk replacer.
McCutcheon, Haupt, and their family look for ways to minimize what is purchased by using farm grown feeds as much as possible, but the cost to grow those feeds has also “skyrocketed”. Fertilizer, seed, pesticides, and fuel have steadily increased in price in recent years. Haupt says prices “jumped up massively recently as impacts of sanctions placed on Russia as a result of the war are starting to be felt here.”
Adding to her concerns is the high cost of equipment. Though they use older equipment, unexpected breaks are difficult to manage if the means to repair or replace are not available. Supply chain issues have placed an added challenge as parts are not always readily available, causing repairs to be delayed.
“The combination of factors puts us into a really uncertain position and one that is really hard to plan for,” said Haupt.
She anticipates that interest rates will also play a significant role as they increase.
Haupt addresses the increase to the price of milk that consumers saw this past winter noting, “The increase wasn’t just arbitrary but rather based on real industry numbers. It was a jump because the price dairy farmers get paid has remained the same for a long time while costs steadily increased.”
She continues, “The correction was felt because it was a relatively big jump all at once … but it was also not at all out of place with the increases we saw in all other food categories.”
Haupt points out that only about half of the increase consumers are seeing is due to the increase in what farmers are receiving, as there was also an increase by processors.
On her Facebook page “Dairy Farm ‘Tails’ From Moo to You”, Haupt shares stories on farm living not just from the perspective of a farmer but of a consumer as well. She says, “I’m feeding my own family of six and the increases in food costs are felt in my home, as they are in everyone else’s.”
There is also growing concern among farmers that food prices will continue to rise due to the situation in Ukraine.
This is reflected in a joint news release issued on March 18 by the Grain Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Federation of Agriculture, and Ontario Agri-Business Association. See the full release below.
Like all consumers, farmers will face these cost increases and they will continue to produce quality food products.
Haupt believes, “It’s a time when we really are all going to need to work together.”
This includes buying local products whenever possible and looking for Canadian and Ontario grown/made labels such as the blue cow symbol to support our farmers.
Despite the challenges, Haupt remains confident in Canadian agriculture stating, “No matter the situation, farmers in this country are committed to producing safe, high-quality food for our country, even when times are uncertain. Farmers will still be planting their crops this spring. Our cows are being cared for as always so that they can produce nutritious milk and meat.”
