Drought, supply chain shortages and the rising cost of doing business led to a difficult 2022 for American farmers, but 2023 could be even worse, a fourth-generation dairy farmer said.
“I definitely think we have a food security threat,” Stephanie Nash, a Tennessee farmer and agriculture advocate told Fox News. “I believe 2023 is going to be rough. Worse than this year.”
Food prices have been outpacing overall inflation in 2022 as November food prices showed a 10.6% increase compared to last year, while overall inflation hit 7.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A number of factors have contributed to rising food prices, including fertilizer and fuel shortages, extreme weather conditions and rising interest rates in an industry that relies on debt financing, Nash said.
“2022 was a really hard year,” the 29-year-old said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of shortages next year for sure.”
“We’re going to have a supply chain shortage, we’re going to have an increase in our food [prices] at the grocery store,” she added. “I don’t think it’s going to go down anytime soon, and I think Americans are really going to be hurting in their wallet.”
Most U.S. farmers take out short-term, variable-rate loans each year to pay for everything from seeds and fertilizer to livestock and machinery, according to the Department of Agriculture. As a result, the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate increases from as low as 0% to as high as 4.25% has raised the cost of farm operations.
