Farm profits eroded by costs

CALIFORNIA – Rising fuel prices and increased interest rates are expected to cause a significant drop in the income of American farmers this year, following two years of unusually high prices and record crops, but in Mendocino County these factors will only add insult to the injury of several years of low earnings.

“We’re not making any money right now,” said Tyler Nelson, local farmer and president of the Mendocino County Farm Bureau. “That fuel cost hits us in the pocketbook.”

Nationally, fuel costs have increased 35 percent in the last year.

The total value of agriculture products has been in a steady decline since 2001, dropping $24.3 million in between 2001 and 2004.

Ukiah Daily Journal