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Farmers pay for making and buying food
A Wisconsin Farm Bureau leader says the increase in grocery prices is not helping most farmers.
Cassie Sonnentag tells Brownfield farmers are price takers and not price makers, and the small increase in what they receive for food and commodity products is wiped out by fuel and other input costs. “For farmers, that’s really affecting them as well, and on top of that, fertilizer prices have tripled in the last year and those higher prices that you might be hearing about as far as commodity prices or the grocery store prices, that doesn’t even begin to cover the increase in farm expenses for the average farmer.”
Sonnentag says the farmer’s share of the retail dollar is as low as 2% on some items like bread and cereal, and farmers are feeling the pinch at the grocery store and on the farm.
American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual Summer Picnic Survey shows the cost of feeding ten people with twelve common items was $69.68 and in Wisconsin, those items cost $569.74. Sonnentag says, “While we are seeing the price of food increase both nationally and here at home, at just under $7 per person, this year’s summer cookout is cheaper than the average fast-food meal.”
