1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 Let's look at the results of the rule. 2 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,000 Fuel and fertilizer, the cost of them has spiked due to the war in Iran 3 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:35,000 that has disrupted crude oil fields and transport, as well as the export of fertilizer. 4 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:39,000 On farms in Wisconsin, growers consider their crops and spring planting 5 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,000 in the face of this price volatility. 6 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,000 Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darren Von Ruden is here with more. 7 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,000 He joins us from Westby, and thanks a lot for being here. 8 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,000 Thanks for having me this morning. 9 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,000 So what are your farmer members saying about the price shocks happening right now? 10 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,000 Well, lots of concerns. 11 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:04,000 You know, some of our members actually were able to book their inputs last fall, 12 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,000 so probably aren't going to see that sticker shock this spring, 13 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:12,000 like we are amongst other members that don't have the ability to, 14 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,000 because of cash flow problems by that. 15 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,000 So they're right now probably examining do we stay with corn 16 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,000 and need to put more nitrogen on the ground? 17 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Or should we look at a small grains crop or do we plant more soybeans 18 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,000 just because that price of fertilizers has increased so much in the last two weeks here? 19 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:39,000 What are the ways the increased cost of fuel impact producers? 20 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Well, in really in all aspects, number one, it costs more to get the items 21 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:49,000 that we need to produce the crops to the farm. 22 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:56,000 There's surcharges that are co-ops in process or delivery folks will be charging. 23 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:02,000 It's going to cost more to put the crop in the ground unless you were able to book that 24 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,000 fuel earlier, which doesn't happen very often. 25 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:11,000 And then just to get the products that we produce to the consumer 26 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:14,000 through the processors and distributors, 27 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:20,000 we're probably going to be seeing surcharges on those deliveries too. 28 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:25,000 Now, the Trump administration just waived a 100-year-old shipping law to speed up oil 29 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,000 and fertilizers shipments ahead of spring planting. 30 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,000 How welcome is that? 31 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:36,000 Well, if it helps in that price of what the cost is to get by that gallon of diesel 32 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,000 or that gallon of gas, it certainly is welcome news. 33 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,000 But I'm hearing that it probably will have very little impact on it 34 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:50,000 because, you know, planting season is probably two weeks away in the southern Wisconsin here right now. 35 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:56,000 So can that really impact what's going to happen on day one when farmers need to be in the fields? 36 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,000 A big question mark there. 37 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,000 Yeah, for sure. 38 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:07,000 So how difficult is it to move from corn to soybeans or other crops just kind of on a dime here? 39 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,000 The biggest thing is the availability of the seeds. 40 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:17,000 So, you know, farmers generally try to have that contracted earlier delivery. 41 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,000 You know, at this time of the year, those seeds are being delivered to the farm. 42 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,000 So if your supplier has adequate supplies of both, you're in good shape. 43 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:33,000 But some years, you know, the people that we buy from are trying to guess what farmers are going to do. 44 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,000 And so could be shorted one or the other. 45 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:43,000 And small grains is another issue because a lot of suppliers don't necessarily have large quantities of that seed available. 46 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:48,000 So it might take two to three weeks to get that to come in from another source. 47 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:56,000 So even ahead of the war in Iran, how have Wisconsin farmers weathered tariffs and resulting markets? 48 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:02,000 Yeah, certainly, you know, last year was not a good year for farmers on the on the economic side. 49 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:13,000 A lot of farmers posted losses in corn and soybeans, especially because of that destruction in the marketplace and not having those overseas buyers to buy that. 50 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:23,000 You know, we have weathered a little bit of that with the increased prices that we've seen after President Trump to notes some of the trade deals with China. 51 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:30,000 But we still haven't seen all of those markets come back to the level that they were two, three years ago. 52 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:38,000 How meaningful have one time payments out of Washington to offset tariff losses been for farmers in Wisconsin? 53 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:51,000 Well, you know, it certainly has helped ease some of the pain between the banker and the farmer because they were able to pay maybe a bigger portion of the operating loan that they had. 54 00:04:51,000 --> 00:05:00,000 But in reality, when you look at the real numbers, it was only about 15% of what farmers needed to pay for their production costs. 55 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,000 So, you know, in the end, we're still quite a bit behind on that process. 56 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:16,000 And, you know, farmers generally want to receive our income from the marketplace and not depend on Uncle Sam to send us a check when we're in dire needs. 57 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:24,000 So, with the trade war that we had, you know, those market conditions were really impacted in a negative way. 58 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:33,000 And it's really a frustration of farmers that we need to depend on the federal monies to come in in order to pay bills. 59 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:37,000 All right, Darren Von Ruden, thanks for explaining all this to us. 60 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,000 Thank you, Frederica. 61 00:05:47,000 --> 00:06:00,000 That I didn't get to and it's, I don't know if it's serious or not, but how are farmers managing that huge snowfall that hit? 62 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:08,000 Yeah, you know, overall, fairly well, I would say, you know, there were resilient bunch and they do. 63 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:16,000 I haven't heard of any rough collapses or anything like that that we've had in years past, but there could be some that you just haven't heard about. 64 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:27,000 But, you know, the biggest thing is as long as the snow clouds can get their oats cleared, we can keep the milk going in and keep the animals moving where they need to to and. 65 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:33,000 If you're ever once a while, but a farmer may be getting a tractor stuck with a round, be able to get out to feed animals. 66 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:42,000 But generally, if they need help from a neighbor, you'll get that and make sure that the animals are happy as that can be in that kind of weather. 67 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:43,000 All right. 68 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,000 Good. Well, thank you. Enjoy this spring weather. 69 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,000 Thank you, Frederica. 70 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:50,000 Bye.