Capital Press
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Friday, January 14, 2022
Volume 95, Number 2
CapitalPress.com
$2.00
Michael LoBiondo/AFBF
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall speaks Jan. 9 during the organization’s national convention in Atlanta. “We should not need a team
of lawyers and consultants just to be able to farm our land,” he said of the Waters of the U.S. regulations.
WOTUS WORRIES
FARM BUREAU: Uncertainty over latest set of
regs may require Supreme Court to sort out issue
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Courtney
Briggs
A
TLANTA — As farmers contend
with the latest change in federal
Clean Water Act authority, their
best hope for clarity may lie with
the U.S. Supreme Court.
Growers should speak out against the Biden
administration’s proposed expansion of federal
“waters of the U.S.” jurisdiction, or WOTUS,
See more stories from the American
Farm Bureau Federation’s annual
convention.
Page 4
according to speakers at the American Farm
Bureau Federation’s annual convention in
Atlanta, Ga.
“We should not need a team of lawyers and
consultants just to be able to farm our land,” said
Zippy Duvall, AFBF’s president, on Jan. 9.
The extent of the federal government’s ability
to regulate farmland under the Clean Water Act
has a long and contentious history.
Fifteen years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that wetlands with a “significant nexus”
to a navigable waterway come under the gov-
ernment’s authority, but that didn’t resolve the
controversy.
See WOTUS, Page 9
Here’s how inflation puts squeeze on farmers
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
Courtesy of Audrey Raschein
George Meyer, left, with daughter Audrey Raschein. The
family grows hazelnuts and grass seed. Raschein is a full-
time employee of her father’s business, GM Meyer Farms,
and farms her own acreage as well. Like most farmers,
the family is facing inflation-related pressures in 2022.
JEFFERSON, Ore. — U.S. infla-
tion hit a 39-year high in Novem-
ber, according to the consumer price
index, and prices continue to soar in
2022.
One mid-sized farm in Jefferson,
Ore., is juggling spiraling costs for
everything from diesel fuel to fertil-
izer, illustrating inflation’s impact on
agriculture.
George Meyer, 65, grows hazel-
nuts and grass seed at GM Meyer
Farms. He and his daughter, Audrey
Raschein, 35, are making difficult
decisions in advance of planting sea-
son in an effort to control costs.
This isn’t Meyer’s first taste of
inflation. He started farming in 1979
and endured the 13.5% annual infla-
tion of the early 1980s.
“I know what it was like in the
eighties. It wasn’t very much fun,”
said Meyer.
He laughed wryly.
Looking at a single farm can’t tell
everyone’s story, in part because sup-
pliers often charge lower prices to
longtime customers. But it can illus-
trate a broad trend: Prices are going
up almost everywhere on almost
everything.
To trace rising costs, the Capital
Press worked with GM Meyer Farms
to analyze purchasing data from pre-
vious years compared to projected
costs for 2022.
For example, in 2021, the farm
paid $33.27 per gallon for the her-
bicide Lifeline. In 2022, the sup-
plier quoted $77 per gallon, a 131%
increase.
In 2020, the farm spent $375 per
ton on a fertilizer blend containing
urea and ammonium sulfate. In Janu-
ary 2022, the same product is quoted
at $882 per ton, a 135% increase.
Used in a large volume, the cost
adds up quickly. Raschein estimated
the farm this spring will use 135 tons
of the fertilizer mix for a total cost of
$119,070. In 2020 the same volume
cost $50,625.
The farm hasn’t even been able to
get a quote on Gly Star Original, a
glyphosate-based generic version of
Roundup, because of an deepening
shortage of the herbicide. The farm
paid $17.20 per gallon in 2021, up
See Inflation, Page 9
Farmland values strong but variable
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Higher
commodity
prices, strong farm prof-
itability and low interest
rates have put upward pres-
sure on cropland values
across the U.S.
Nationwide, those val-
ues were 7.8% higher in
2021 year over year, but the
state-level increases var-
ied from a high of 13.9%
in Kansas to a low of 1.7%
in Arkansas and Louisiana,
according to USDA.
Many factors influence
farmland values, said David
Widmar, an agricultural
economist and co-founder
of Ag Economic Insights.
“The two big ones are
AVERAGE
CROPLAND
VALUE PER ACRE
IN 2021
California: $13,860
Idaho: $4,450
Oregon: $3,310
Washington: $2,700
U.S.: $4,420
USDA
The value of farmland rose last year in most of the U.S.
income and interest rates,”
he said.
That boils down to how
much can be generated
from the farmland and the
return on the purchase of
farmland, he said.
Low interest rates typ-
ically push farmland val-
ues higher as buyers are
willing to bid up prices
and accept a lower rate
of return. When interest
rates are higher, investors
are looking for higher
rates of return and, in
turn, aren’t as eager to bid
asset value up, he said.
“Current conditions are
good for those looking to
sell farmland,” he said.
“Another factor that is
really relevant is local sup-
ply and demand” — the
amount of farmland for sale
and the number of buyers
interested in purchasing it,
he said.
There are also geo-
graphic factors. Drought
and crop failures, espe-
cially if seen over sev-
eral years, can affect local
supply and demand. Local
economic conditions and
the commodity grown play
into the equation as well,
he said.
See Farmland, Page 9