Farmers are struggling to afford fertilizer now
I followed the news on agriculture world wide and the U.S is making some surveys to check what's going on. This survey which was carried out by the American Farm Bureau Federation which was among more than 5,700 farmers has shown us that problems with agriculture in the United States keep growing. They have as many as 70% of farmers who cannot afford to buy enough fertilizer to start planting.
Wouldn't this directly impact food there? And I know this is not just for America, here in Ghana I don't know the percentage but almost every farmer I know has a complaint about fertilizer price now.
You'll be able to easily see, the gap between the two most affected regions is quite high. Almost 80% of farmers in the South say they do not have enough money to buy fertilizer, compared to 48% of those from the Midwest region. Pre paid buying also showed a similar results. 67% of Midwest farmers bought fertilizer in advance, the same number in the South was just 19%. In any case, one third of farmers began their planting season without buying enough supplies.
This thing is coming from global politics I tell you. More trouble in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, all this contributed to an increase in fertilizer and fuel prices worldwide. I may not be there but I can feel it from my own pocket.
Nitrogen fertilizer became 30% more expensive, urea prices went up by 47% since late February, and the overall price of both increased by 20% to 40%.
Because of what's going on, many farmers decide to skip fertilizer use this time, which means prepare for lower yields and the inability to farm all the available land. According to Zippy Duvall, the president of the AFBF, it is going to affect the ability to produce food crops in the future, so that means also prepare for even higher prices than what you're complaining of.
All in all, 94% of all interviewed farmers said their financial situation either got worse or stayed the same compared to last year. I hope the cause of these problems is addressed and handled.
Actual percentages in this blog was gotten from this source