ALABAMA (WHNT) — After a couple of months of little to no rain, farmers are facing the fallout associated with drought, but that isn’t the only issue they face.
At the first annual North Alabama Ag Expo held at Alabama A&M’s agribition center, Libbie Johnson, the executive director of the Alabama Peanut Producers Association, shared that this year’s crop of peanuts was better than last. However, the drought during the pivotal month of August made things hard.
“That was tough cause that’s when peanuts are really starting to fill their pods,” said Johnson. “That’s probably reduced our yields some just because of that and possibly produced are grades some.”
Johnson said farmers are going through hard times and all eyes are on the Farm Bill.
“For our peanut growers and really all farmers in Alabama are concerned about the farm bill. Finances are not easy for farmers right now. It’s a big issue for us, the cost of production has gone up and the price that they are getting paid for the peanuts has stayed low,” said Johnson. “We are really concerned about the peanut industry and all row crop agriculture in Alabama right now.”
Those rising costs have hindered younger people from getting into the industry. Austin Blankenship, a Lawerence County farmer, sees the struggles that prevent young people from farming.
“Having young people like myself come into that industry being able to pick up where farmers are retiring out is becoming hard for us at our age,” said Blankenship. “The price of land being so high and just the average cost of getting into the industry. When equipment cost several hundred thousand dollars, it’s hard to buy into that.”
Blakenship said that the age of the average farmer is in their 60s but that he is passionate about getting younger people involved in the future of the industry.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
