Agriculture & Inflation: What It Means for Producers

Nebraska Farm Bureau’s most recent Inside Profitability Series webinar focuses on inflation and agriculture. Inflation has reached levels not seen since the 1970s and 1980s and has affected farmers and ranchers in numerous ways. Expenses are higher for fuel, feed, fertilizer, chemicals, and other inputs. Interest rates are moving higher increasing borrowing costs. For many producers, this is the first time in their farming/ranching careers dealing with the financial conditions seen today.

Featuring Krista Swanson, an agricultural economist and visiting research specialist with the FarmDoc team at the University of Illinois, and Don Cantrell, a producer in Custer County, the webinar focuses on strategies farmers and ranchers might consider when managing operations in inflationary times. Swanson discusses, maintaining liquidity, watching interest costs, and selling grain when purchasing inputs, among others as means to mitigate the uncertainties of inflation. Cantrell visits about his experiences farming in the 1980s, what he learned, and how those lessons can apply to today. Cantrell stresses that producers should always have a backup plan ready if the first plan goes awry. To view the webinar, click here.