Supply Costs to Farmers
It doesn't matter what size "garden" you grow, whether a few square feet or a few hundred acres, the cost of growing anything has risen sharply and will continue to rise as a result of the war. At Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens we have been shaking our heads for a few weeks now and so far the prices of what we need to grow plants this year has not settled down. Here is yesterday's report from Bloomberg that might give you an idea of just some of the problems. As I have been recommending, if there are supplies you need, buy now and plan into the future a bit because this whole thing is not going away quickly.
"Fertilizer prices continue to surge to records as Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine puts a massive portion of the world’s fertilizer supply at
risk, adding to concerns over soaring global food inflation.
The Green Markets North America Fertilizer Price Index jumped
almost 10% Friday to an all-time high as the market worries that potential
sanctions on Russia, a big low-cost shipper of every major kind of crop
nutrient, could disrupt global trade. The country accounted for almost a fifth of 2021 fertilizer exports, according to
Trade Data Monitor and Bloomberg’s Green Markets
Russia has urged domestic fertilizer producers to reduce
exports, further stoking fears of shortages. The war also is pushing up the
cost of natural gas, the main input for most nitrogen fertilizer, forcing some
producers in Europe to cut output.
At the
same time, prices for staple crops like wheat, corn and soybeans are soaring,
with war in one of the world’s breadbaskets threatening to push millions more
into hunger. Rising costs for farm inputs like fertilizer could further send
the price of food skyrocketing."
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