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By Ron Eichner
Hi folks, September is the month when summer turns into fall. Mother Nature’s example of shrinkflation is that each day has 24 hours, but each day has a little less daylight. September is the “Harvest Month” when fruits and vegetables are ripe for the picking.
This year, Labor Day is September 2. It’s a national holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September, and it falls halfway between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.
Over the last few years, our economy has been suffering from inflation and shrinkflation. Small family farms are affected by this in several ways. Farmers are both consumers and producers of crops and products within their industry. They acquire various input expenses like seeds, feed, fertilizer, fuel, utilities, equipment, equipment repairs, and more. Consequently, rising prices led to higher costs, and as farmers, with all of the yearly challenges of spreading manure, liming, fertilizing the fields, sowing the seeds, or transplanting, we can only hope that Mother Nature can do her part and irrigate our fields.
How do small family farms affect the U.S. economy? When farms thrive, area businesses and local communities thrive. Family farms can employ individuals and support businesses in their communities as small business owners. Small businesses and family farms have created 64% of all new jobs nationwide over the last 15 years. I can’t echo this point enough, but small businesses and family farms are the backbone of our communities, and all we need is community support.
Projections from the US Department of Agriculture say net farm incomes are expected to decrease in 2024 compared to 2023. It's the most significant year-to-year drop in history. According to Steve Ammerman, spokesperson for the New York Farm Bureau, it aligns with what we have been seeing because commodity prices have been dropping, and expenses have been increasing. As a Pennsylvania Farm Bureau member, I know my family farm members in our Commonwealth are experiencing the same issues.
Diversification on family farms can be the lifeline to get through the hard years like the three droughts this year after a record amount of rainfall in April and May. Fuel and energy are big expenses for farms, so if fuel and utility prices are lower, it helps the bottom line. Family farms are suffering through the same economic hardships as American families. The current high inflation is making fruit, vegetables, meats, poultry, and dairy more expensive to produce and is cutting into the income farm families rely on to pay their bills.
Dairy farms have been taking it on the chin for decades because what they are paid for their milk usually doesn't balance out the increased prices of all their costs and the annual increased prices on farm equipment. When the smaller dairy farms shut down, the large corporate dairy farms fill in for the milk losses, but they benefit from government subsidies.
Shrinkflation is a newer term for what most people experience in area grocery stores. The marketing purpose is to offer less volume than the previous price points. Shrinkflation is a price increase on the public.
If inflation isn't scary enough for you, a farm friend and customer, Carrie Triko, and her staff have Haunted Highview Manor in New Castle. They ramp up with events and tours in September and October; you will be satisfied if you want a few scares to visit hauntedhighviewmanor.com.
During Harvest Month, our farm market is stocked with fruits, vegetables, our own fresh high-energy eggs, homemade pork sausages, sliced slab and Canadian bacon, roasting chickens, Creamline milk, cheese, local honey, maple syrup, homemade cookies by the dozen, fudges, and chocolates. Cousin Matt King's huge fall mums are great for your deck, pots, or landscape.
So, make us a destination for wholesome farm products. Bring a friend and be a farm friend. Our farm market is open seven days a week. Visit us at 285 Richard Road, Wexford, make Eichner's Whole Farm and Greenhouse a destination, and discover "the rest of the story."
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