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McLennan County Farm Bureau President Jimmy Westerfeld looks on as Cong. Chet Edwards discusses energy issues with Central Texas farmers.
By Mike Barnett
Editor
Farmers are famous for griping about input costs, the weather—you name it—about anything that adversely affects their operations.
There was more than a hint of desperation in their voices, however, as they met with Cong. Chet Edwards during a recent breakfast meeting at the Texas Farm Bureau state office.
Overwhelmed by rising input costs and low commodity prices, many farmers questioned whether they'll be in business come spring planting time.
"I've been in agriculture for quite a few years," said one McLennan County farmer. "This is the first time in history that you cannot take a piece of paper and pencil and make it work on paper. Now this is serious."
One agricultural lender, who wished to remain unidentified, acknowledged area farmers are in trouble.
"Debt levels are going up. These guys are coming in and telling me $3 diesel, 60 percent increase in fertilizer. It's going to be difficult to make operating loans work," he said. ""We've always had to stretch. This year we're going to have to leap. And it might have to be a giant leap to make some of these things work."
McLennan County Farm Bureau President Jimmy Westerfeld estimated the producers at the breakfast meeting farmed some 50,000 acres in Central Texas. He noted the huge increases in input costs, including machinery, fuel and fertilizer, and noted that prices farmers receive for their crops are about the same as 20 years ago, and at times even less.
"Inflation has not even started thinking about staying up with farming," Westerfeld said. "Parity prices right now, I think wheat should be about $8 a bushel. Corn should be around $7 a bushel instead of $1.60, if you can get it. Milo, $10 a hundredweight, instead of $3.35. We've got to take 1970 prices. It doesn't make any sense. The general public, I think, doesn't have a clue what we're facing."
Edwards, who represents the 17th Congressional District, said one immediate step that could alleviate input pressure would be to increase natural gas supplies, the seedstock for fertilizer.
To that end, he said he's working to open up drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and the Gulf Coast of Florida, where there are massive amounts of proven natural gas reserves.
"I think it's just going to be devastating to farmers and ranchers if we don't implement a program to open up production of natural gas here in America," he said.
Another unknown facing farmers, Edwards said, is the next farm bill.
"Our challenge this time is going to be...during the last farm bill, we had the largest surpluses in American history. Now we have the largest deficits," he explained. "We have to keep reaching out to urban areas to talk to them the importance your survival has to the price their low income constituents pay for food.
"One reason we get support for the farm bill from urban areas is because of the food stamp program. We need their help."
