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Farmers face rising input costs and financial pressure

A northeast Nebraska farmer says many growers are facing unprecedented financial uncertainty this spring.

“We’re all in this panic and pressure mode.”

Anne Meis says she’s increasingly worried about the price and availability of some inputs. “How much? Do we need that much? Can we cut back? We have to do those cost analysis of what it costs to put fertilizer on. We still need to buy some liquid fertilizer that we put in furrow and through the pivots.”

She tells Brownfield the recent run-up in diesel prices is also a concern. “Thinking about filling two semi tractors and several tractors every other day is really going to cut into our bottom line.”

Meis says ongoing drought could push irrigation costs higher with pivots running earlier than normal to get the crop going. “We run some on diesel. We run some on electrical, and we run some on natural gas. They’re all expensive to run and they’re very time consuming.”

She says she continues to adjust her crop budget in an effort to maximize cost savings.