MIAMI – South Florida farmers are suffering like everyone else when it comes to the rising costs of inflation.
“Does the consumer have enough money left over to pay a price for products that will keep me sustainable? That’s the dilemma right now,” said farmer John Alger, owner of Alger Farms.
Alger Farms has been in business since the 1930s. Alger said it has been a struggle to break even for the past 10 years, even before the pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation. Now, he says farmers across South Florida are reaching a breaking point.
Their three-generation farm, with fields of sweet corn and green beans, stretches for miles and supplies the entire East Coast with its crops.
It is where Alger and his two dogs spend most of their time. But his days on the farm may be short-lived.
“We’re at a crossroads right now. We don’t know if we should continue even this coming winter. Our costs are 26 percent higher than they were two years ago,” Alger said.
In addition, the ten-year average profitability of the farm is 15% lower than the expected cost of keeping it running.
“My numbers say stop. A man with common sense would stop,” Alger said.
He has been using his savings to keep the farm afloat.
“The last 10 years it’s been a very expensive hobby,” he explained.
Flavio Carrillo, director of Florida International University’s Capital Markets Lab, said the problems facing farmers likely won’t go away anytime soon.
“Gasoline, for example, has risen more than 60% in the last calendar year, putting enormous pressure on farmers who depend on the fuel to work their land,” Carrillo said.
He said our economy could get worse.
“The probability of a downturn in the economy over the next 12 months is 48%, up from 30% the previous month,” he explained.
“From Homestead to Belle Glade, we’re all getting crushed,” Alger said.
He said that’s why, and over the years, the number of farmers in South Florida is declining.
“There were over 100 farmers here. We’re down to nine,” he said, leaving the future of agriculture up in the air.
“It’s pretty bleak. It’s bleak,” he said.
Algiers fears without significant changes: “We will be a country dependent on imports for our food.”
“Unfortunately, the stress caused by uncertainty can be too much for many farmers,” Carrillo said.
Alger said in a week he will have to decide what to do with the farm. He said that if they leave the farming business, they will be idle for a year to see if conditions improve. If they don’t, there will be one less farmer in South Florida.
Ashley Dyer
