Let's look at the results of the rule.
Fuel and fertilizer, the cost of them has spiked due to the war in Iran
that has disrupted crude oil fields and transport, as well as the export of fertilizer.
On farms in Wisconsin, growers consider their crops and spring planting
in the face of this price volatility.
Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darren Von Ruden is here with more.
He joins us from Westby, and thanks a lot for being here.
Thanks for having me this morning.
So what are your farmer members saying about the price shocks happening right now?
Well, lots of concerns.
You know, some of our members actually were able to book their inputs last fall,
so probably aren't going to see that sticker shock this spring,
like we are amongst other members that don't have the ability to,
because of cash flow problems by that.
So they're right now probably examining do we stay with corn
and need to put more nitrogen on the ground?
Or should we look at a small grains crop or do we plant more soybeans
just because that price of fertilizers has increased so much in the last two weeks here?
What are the ways the increased cost of fuel impact producers?
Well, in really in all aspects, number one, it costs more to get the items
that we need to produce the crops to the farm.
There's surcharges that are co-ops in process or delivery folks will be charging.
It's going to cost more to put the crop in the ground unless you were able to book that
fuel earlier, which doesn't happen very often.
And then just to get the products that we produce to the consumer
through the processors and distributors,
we're probably going to be seeing surcharges on those deliveries too.
Now, the Trump administration just waived a 100-year-old shipping law to speed up oil
and fertilizers shipments ahead of spring planting.
How welcome is that?
Well, if it helps in that price of what the cost is to get by that gallon of diesel
or that gallon of gas, it certainly is welcome news.
But I'm hearing that it probably will have very little impact on it
because, you know, planting season is probably two weeks away in the southern Wisconsin here right now.
So can that really impact what's going to happen on day one when farmers need to be in the fields?
A big question mark there.
Yeah, for sure.
So how difficult is it to move from corn to soybeans or other crops just kind of on a dime here?
The biggest thing is the availability of the seeds.
So, you know, farmers generally try to have that contracted earlier delivery.
You know, at this time of the year, those seeds are being delivered to the farm.
So if your supplier has adequate supplies of both, you're in good shape.
But some years, you know, the people that we buy from are trying to guess what farmers are going to do.
And so could be shorted one or the other.
And small grains is another issue because a lot of suppliers don't necessarily have large quantities of that seed available.
So it might take two to three weeks to get that to come in from another source.
So even ahead of the war in Iran, how have Wisconsin farmers weathered tariffs and resulting markets?
Yeah, certainly, you know, last year was not a good year for farmers on the on the economic side.
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.
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.
But we still haven't seen all of those markets come back to the level that they were two, three years ago.
How meaningful have one time payments out of Washington to offset tariff losses been for farmers in Wisconsin?
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.
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.
So, you know, in the end, we're still quite a bit behind on that process.
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.
So, with the trade war that we had, you know, those market conditions were really impacted in a negative way.
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.
All right, Darren Von Ruden, thanks for explaining all this to us.
Thank you, Frederica.
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?
Yeah, you know, overall, fairly well, I would say, you know, there were resilient bunch and they do.
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.
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.
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.
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.
All right.
Good. Well, thank you. Enjoy this spring weather.
Thank you, Frederica.
Bye.