Since early March, fertilizer prices have nearly doubled. And that means farmers across the state are forced to eat the cost.
Matt Dorsey, president of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation and operator of a small farm near Marsing, said early spring is when farmers begin applying fertilizer. He said crops are already not worth as much as farmers put in. Cost of fertilizer only makes that worse.
"We're price takers. We don't get to say, 'hey, since fertilizer doubled in price or fuel doubled in price, we want to charge more or we need to charge more,'" said Dorsey.
The Strait of Hormuz opened to commercial ships Friday morning, sending oil prices falling. On Saturday, Iran closed the Strait again. Even if the conflict settles soon, it doesn’t mean agricultural costs will improve immediately.
"I can tell you, it's not going to go down as fast as it came up," said Dorsey.
Even before the spike in fertilizer prices, farmers have been struggling with costs like equipment, repairs and fuel. Dorsey said this makes farmers borrow more money, earlier in the year. Some even have to carry those debts for multiple years..
Dorsey said the drought declared across Idaho is also going to worsen conditions.
"Our long season crops that you're watering throughout the year, you won't be able to have the water to even to raise that crop," said Dorsey.
He only expects a quarter of his normal water supply.
