Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
How are Utah's farmers feeling the potential loss of $8 billion worth agricultural products, due to the Midwest flooding? We should soon know how bad the ripple effect of the damage could be.
About two years ago, it cost between 45 and 50 cents for Utah Cattle Rancher and Farmer John Ferry to produce a pound of beef. Now, it costs about a dollar. "We may end up feeding less or fewer cattle this coming year than we've had in the past," he told us.
Ferry's at a conference in Chicago to look into growing commodities in other countries. He says if he didn't have other crops and relied solely on raising cattle, he'd be feeling a lot more pressure. He says the use of corn for ethanol is adding to the headaches farmers are feeling. "This era, right now, that we're entering, that's the first time that's ever happened. Now, energy is competing with food," he said.
With the full extent of the flooding damage not known just yet, Ferry says commodity speculators are buying lots of corn just in case the price goes up, which, in turn, makes the price go up. He says, "Fear and greed drive the market. Right now, greed is in control, but sooner or later it's going to change."
Farmers may not have to wait too much longer to ride out the uncertainty. Utah Farm Bureau Federation Vice President of Public Policy Todd Bingham said, "The 30th of June, we should have more firm numbers on what we think the impact in the Midwest will do in terms of ripple across the country."
How dependent are Utah's farmers on corn from the Midwest? Very. Bingham says the state's main agricultural product is livestock, and much of the feed comes from flooded parts of the Midwest. He says, "There have been drastic losses across the Midwest in feed this year, and that has us concerned from an animal agriculture state."
He says chicken prices have already risen, and he expects egg and milk prices to do the same. Farmers could find more sources of feed for their livestock, like alfalfa hay, but, Bingham says there's another problem: "With the drought we've been in, in Utah in the last couple of years, and then the wet spring right now, we're about two to three weeks behind in terms of alfalfa production."
Bingham says most dairies are out of hay, and the hay that's being cut right now is contracted out. He also says ranchers can't use as much public grazing land because fires wiped out a lot of it last year.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
