Basin farming is a constant balancing act

It looks like a good year, but for those expensive fill-ups

May 8, 2008

Klamath Falls Herald and News Editorial  

    Talk to a farmer if you want to find about balancing acts. It’s their life: Production cost vs. market price; crops vs. weather; water supply vs. water needs; one crop’s value vs. switching to another. The list goes on.

    The result is a Klamath County industry that is probably closing in on $1 billion a year, if it hasn’t gotten there already. A 2004 report using figures that were several years old said that Klamath County agriculture and food manufacturing had a worth of $650 million and there was another $169 million not included.

    A report this year from Oregon State University compiled on a different basis, said that the value of products from Klamath County farms and ranches jumped in 2007 to $298.3 million from $205 million the year before. That’s a gain of more than $90 million in one year, much of it coming from increased prices for hay, cattle and dairy products.

    In short, agriculture in the Klamath Basin is big business.

    But even in a city the size of Klamath Falls, where it’s pretty easy for those in farming and ranching to cross paths with those who aren’t, there’s often a disconnect between the groups. People generally lack an insight into what happens at farms and ranches unless they work or live on one.

    The subject’s important because Klamath Basin farmers and ranchers constantly see their battles on the front pages and their futures hanging on decisions handed down in court cases or from federal officials. The impact such things have on the local economy is major.

    This looks like a good year for Klamath County agriculture and, if it is, means extra millions of dollars percolating through the local economy. The price of farm commodities is up, which means higher prices at the supermarket. Consumers don’t like that, but many of those dollars make their way to local businesses and those who work there.

    Even if the price is higher, the cost of food in the United States remains a pretty good deal. It hovers near 10 percent of Americans’ disposable income. Until 2000, it was never below 10 percent. In 1990, it was 11.1 percent; in 1980, 13.2 percent; in 1970, 13.9 percent and in 1960, 17.5 percent.

    Compared to other nations, the U.S. figures are low.

    The extra dollars spent on food don’t automatically add to a farmer’s bottom line. A lot of them go for $400 fuel fill-ups for farm machinery and higher costs of electricity.

    That’s part of the balancing act, too. Farmers and ranchers won’t find out how good they are at juggling until after the harvest.

    Pat Bushey wrote today’s editorial.

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Source:  http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2008/05/08/viewpoints/op-ed/

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