2022 Farm Income Will Fall

The latest government inflation figures show the general inflation rate running about 8.5% higher than a year ago, but for farmers buying what they need to produce a crop, "the lowest year-over-year inflation farmers are seeing is twice that on seed, with most commodity categories many times higher," said Dr. Joe Outlaw, Texas A&M economist.

He recently told a house hearing that fertilizer prices have been 13 to 40% higher.

"While some producers were able to benefit by locking in input prices early in 2021 for this year's crop, most indicated very little ability to do so."

So Dr. Outlaw said crop producers will likely see profit margins squeezed, but not eliminated.

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