America’s farmers and ranchers are seeing their slice of the food dollar shrink once again, according to new data from the American Farm Bureau Federation.
As we have previously reported on (Click here to read the article) The latest Market Intel report shows that producers received just 5.8 cents of every dollar consumers spent on food, down slightly from 5.9 cents the year before. That’s after accounting for rising input costs that continue to pressure farm profitability.
President of Indiana Farm Bureau Randy Kron sums up the Intel Report, “I think it shows the stress that’s at the farm gate. Our expenses are up, the income is down. That’s not an equation for long term sustainability. So I think that paints the picture pretty well for what we’ve got and what we’re looking at. And hopefully this is short lived and we can find some new uses, new markets, to be able to move our product.”
Economists say the bigger story is what happens after food leaves the farm. Processing, transportation, retail, and food service costs now make up the majority of the food dollar, highlighting a system where most value is added beyond the farmgate.
Kron says, “This is important. We need farmers here in the US. I don’t think we want to import all our food. And we hear all the time, that, food security is national security and it’s critical. We need to remember that.”
The report underscores a tough reality, farmers remain the backbone of the food system, but they’re earning less from each dollar consumers spend, even as their own costs continue to rise.
