Area farmers feel pain, but local food economy responds well to challenges
By Steve Yencich, Contributing Writer
It takes tenacity to be a farmer. Last year it was the uncertainties caused by COVID, supply chain disruptions, and unavailable labor. These challenges remain, but with the impact of last month’s freeze on tart cherries and big jumps in commodity prices, many local growers feel real pain. Local cherry growers say last month’s freeze may have destroyed as much as 90% of 2021’s crop of tart cherries. You can see the lack of blooms as you drive throughout the area.
Now, continuing cold, wet weather is damaging sweets and threatening other fruits too. Bad weather has delayed the planting of corn and other crops. Further, it threatens fruit blossoms with rot and lower pollination rates, because as one local grower pointed out, “You don’t see too many bees flying around in this weather.” As disappointing as this is, it’s a possibility orchard growers face every year and expect about once every decade. However, this year, those prospective losses come on the heels of COVID’S continuing impact and significant commodity cost increases that are pressuring local farmers and food producers more than ever. Thrown out of proportion by the effects of COVID, year-over-year prices are much higher. Discussing COVID’s continuing impact, local sheep breeder Brett Pharos says, “Everybody from Walmart on down to local suppliers uses “on-time” deliveries, which works great until it doesn’t.” Pharo says supply chains are more fragile than most people realize, and when they break down, prices go up.
Inflation hits commodities
Most people hear terms like commodities and tune out, but when lumber prices jump 334% in five years, people notice. Area residents also see increasing retail prices when they get gas, groceries, and other household goods. But commodities are different from retail prices. They represent the base price producers are paid for a standard product, whether it’s growing corn, cherries, or producing oil. As one local farmer explained, “From there, it’s plus, plus, plus until you get to retail prices.” According to commodity price data from COMEX and NASDAQ, prices from May of 2016 to May 2021 have increased across the board. Soft commodities like corn are up 73%, oats are up 109%, and wheat saw a 55% increase over the past five years. However, hard commodity costs are up, with crude oil up 37%, natural gas up by 40%, and gasoline increasing 39% since 2016.
Hard commodity costs affect everybody, from farmer to consumer and every wholesaler, processor, transporter, and grocery store in between. Consumers feel the pain at the grocery store, but all too often, farmers feel the pain coming and going. The impact of all these trends has pushed some farmers to the point of selling. One orchard not far from our area may eventually go up for sale, possibly to residential developers. “The reason so many growers are going bankrupt is that we’re getting squeezed by increasing costs and aren’t getting enough money when we go to market,” says area farmer Lon Bargy. Some commodity prices have not kept pace with others. While many commodities have doubled and even tripled, the price for “fats,” or feeder cattle ready for slaughter, has decreased by 2% in five years. “There was a time when we raised 150 head of cattle for meat. Now we’re down to 30 head.” Most of the remainder, Bargy said, is reserved for private meat sales to area customers.
Local AG market responds to challenges
Fortunately, some countervailing trends provide hope for the future of local farms and orchards. Some are well-established, and others are beginning to find more traction. Small independent grocers have much more flexibility in whose food they sell. “At any given time, we have up to 30 different locally-sourced food products on our shelves,” says Kevin Young, operational manager for Village Market stores. Independent grocers like VM regularly contract with area producers for potatoes, fruits, vegetables along with a variety of other food products. Long established relationships between local growers and processors further strengthen local food production and are often managed by people with farming backgrounds. “I grew up on a farm and know what it’s like to work seven days a week in the summer, said Bob Sherman, one of the owners and manager of Burnette Foods in Elk Rapids. Sherman says all area processors bend over backward to buy local and offer growers the best price possible. Farming communities grow a special kind of tenacity, borne by commitment, shared risks, and loyalty.
The Elk Rapids area has long had many small farm stands and markets that are growing in strength and number. Last year’s shutdowns also delivered more customers to those outdoor stands. Another addition to the local food chain is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms. The food purchased from CSAs like Undertoe Farms and Providence Farms is grown with no pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or animal growth hormones and touched by far fewer hands before it comes to market. “When people went to the stores a year ago and found empty shelves, it was scary,” said Andrea Romeyn of Providence Farms. Moving forward, Romeyn sees people turning increasingly to local sources of food production in the future because she says, “They want to know where their food comes from, and it just tastes so much better.” Romeyn and other local food producers saw a dramatic jump in customers last year, with continued strong growth so far this year.
Interest in part-time farming and family gardens is growing as well. Local businesses like Send Brothers Feed in Williamsburg serve that segment of the local food economy, providing feeds for a wide variety of animals. Mark Send, whose family also raises cattle, says area residents are increasingly growing their vegetables, chickens, and even livestock. “Nowadays, you see a lot more people with a job, and they’re farming on the side.” Send, and others, say the economies of scale do not favor the small farm. Part-time and home farming help pick up the slack. Recent studies find more Americans growing their own gardens, and sales of gardening tools and canning supplies confirm the trend locally.
Securing our local food economy
When asked the best way to strengthen the Elk Rapids area local food economy, “buy local, however, and whenever you can, it’s that simple,” said Lon Bargy. Other suggestions included looking at labels and always buying MI agricultural products. But some answers were surprising. “In a way, it’s already happening. In the past year, people sought out all sorts of new local food outlets, and in doing that, customers strengthened local food production.” That’s reassuring news, but the most surprising suggestion to strengthen the ER area’s food economy? “I’d say get a job, go back to work,” says Bob Sherman. “If you’re a young person, you should know there’s a lot of local jobs in orchards, farms, and restaurants, and people are paying good money right now.” Employment and college recruiters are always looking for standout individuals. Choosing work over free money will likely look good on anyone’s resume.
Whether tenacity is an inherited or a learned trait is unknown, but farming runs generations deep in the Elk Rapids area. Freezes happen, inflation is here, supply chains are fragile, but the tough get growing when the going gets tough. Regardless of what comes, thanks to innovation and tenacity, good things happen when local producers, processors, stores, and area residents work together.
It takes tenacity to be a farmer. Last year it was the uncertainties caused by COVID, supply chain disruptions, and unavailable labor. These challenges remain, but with the impact of last month’s freeze on tart cherries and big jumps in commodity prices, many local growers feel real pain. Local cherry growers say last month’s freeze may have destroyed as much as 90% of 2021’s crop of tart cherries. You can see the lack of blooms as you drive throughout the area.
Now, continuing cold, wet weather is damaging sweets and threatening other fruits too. Bad weather has delayed the planting of corn and other crops. Further, it threatens fruit blossoms with rot and lower pollination rates, because as one local grower pointed out, “You don’t see too many bees flying around in this weather.” As disappointing as this is, it’s a possibility orchard growers face every year and expect about once every decade. However, this year, those prospective losses come on the heels of COVID’S continuing impact and significant commodity cost increases that are pressuring local farmers and food producers more than ever. Thrown out of proportion by the effects of COVID, year-over-year prices are much higher. Discussing COVID’s continuing impact, local sheep breeder Brett Pharos says, “Everybody from Walmart on down to local suppliers uses “on-time” deliveries, which works great until it doesn’t.” Pharo says supply chains are more fragile than most people realize, and when they break down, prices go up.
Inflation hits commodities
Most people hear terms like commodities and tune out, but when lumber prices jump 334% in five years, people notice. Area residents also see increasing retail prices when they get gas, groceries, and other household goods. But commodities are different from retail prices. They represent the base price producers are paid for a standard product, whether it’s growing corn, cherries, or producing oil. As one local farmer explained, “From there, it’s plus, plus, plus until you get to retail prices.” According to commodity price data from COMEX and NASDAQ, prices from May of 2016 to May 2021 have increased across the board. Soft commodities like corn are up 73%, oats are up 109%, and wheat saw a 55% increase over the past five years. However, hard commodity costs are up, with crude oil up 37%, natural gas up by 40%, and gasoline increasing 39% since 2016.
Hard commodity costs affect everybody, from farmer to consumer and every wholesaler, processor, transporter, and grocery store in between. Consumers feel the pain at the grocery store, but all too often, farmers feel the pain coming and going. The impact of all these trends has pushed some farmers to the point of selling. One orchard not far from our area may eventually go up for sale, possibly to residential developers. “The reason so many growers are going bankrupt is that we’re getting squeezed by increasing costs and aren’t getting enough money when we go to market,” says area farmer Lon Bargy. Some commodity prices have not kept pace with others. While many commodities have doubled and even tripled, the price for “fats,” or feeder cattle ready for slaughter, has decreased by 2% in five years. “There was a time when we raised 150 head of cattle for meat. Now we’re down to 30 head.” Most of the remainder, Bargy said, is reserved for private meat sales to area customers.
Local AG market responds to challenges
Fortunately, some countervailing trends provide hope for the future of local farms and orchards. Some are well-established, and others are beginning to find more traction. Small independent grocers have much more flexibility in whose food they sell. “At any given time, we have up to 30 different locally-sourced food products on our shelves,” says Kevin Young, operational manager for Village Market stores. Independent grocers like VM regularly contract with area producers for potatoes, fruits, vegetables along with a variety of other food products. Long established relationships between local growers and processors further strengthen local food production and are often managed by people with farming backgrounds. “I grew up on a farm and know what it’s like to work seven days a week in the summer, said Bob Sherman, one of the owners and manager of Burnette Foods in Elk Rapids. Sherman says all area processors bend over backward to buy local and offer growers the best price possible. Farming communities grow a special kind of tenacity, borne by commitment, shared risks, and loyalty.
The Elk Rapids area has long had many small farm stands and markets that are growing in strength and number. Last year’s shutdowns also delivered more customers to those outdoor stands. Another addition to the local food chain is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms. The food purchased from CSAs like Undertoe Farms and Providence Farms is grown with no pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or animal growth hormones and touched by far fewer hands before it comes to market. “When people went to the stores a year ago and found empty shelves, it was scary,” said Andrea Romeyn of Providence Farms. Moving forward, Romeyn sees people turning increasingly to local sources of food production in the future because she says, “They want to know where their food comes from, and it just tastes so much better.” Romeyn and other local food producers saw a dramatic jump in customers last year, with continued strong growth so far this year.
Interest in part-time farming and family gardens is growing as well. Local businesses like Send Brothers Feed in Williamsburg serve that segment of the local food economy, providing feeds for a wide variety of animals. Mark Send, whose family also raises cattle, says area residents are increasingly growing their vegetables, chickens, and even livestock. “Nowadays, you see a lot more people with a job, and they’re farming on the side.” Send, and others, say the economies of scale do not favor the small farm. Part-time and home farming help pick up the slack. Recent studies find more Americans growing their own gardens, and sales of gardening tools and canning supplies confirm the trend locally.
Securing our local food economy
When asked the best way to strengthen the Elk Rapids area local food economy, “buy local, however, and whenever you can, it’s that simple,” said Lon Bargy. Other suggestions included looking at labels and always buying MI agricultural products. But some answers were surprising. “In a way, it’s already happening. In the past year, people sought out all sorts of new local food outlets, and in doing that, customers strengthened local food production.” That’s reassuring news, but the most surprising suggestion to strengthen the ER area’s food economy? “I’d say get a job, go back to work,” says Bob Sherman. “If you’re a young person, you should know there’s a lot of local jobs in orchards, farms, and restaurants, and people are paying good money right now.” Employment and college recruiters are always looking for standout individuals. Choosing work over free money will likely look good on anyone’s resume.
Whether tenacity is an inherited or a learned trait is unknown, but farming runs generations deep in the Elk Rapids area. Freezes happen, inflation is here, supply chains are fragile, but the tough get growing when the going gets tough. Regardless of what comes, thanks to innovation and tenacity, good things happen when local producers, processors, stores, and area residents work together.
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