04/08/05 Profits hit by fuel, fertilzer costs

You're paying more at the pump for gasoline and diesel fuel. I'm Bill Scott and on Today's Idaho Ag News how fuel and fertilizer costs are cutting into farm profits. Farmers are always looking for a higher price for their crops but they don't always get that. They're always looking to lower their input costs but fuel and fertilizer have thrown them for a loop. Diesel prices in some areas are double what they were last year with the national average price over two dollars a gallon. Barley grower Clark Kauffman knows his fuel bill took a huge jump. KAUFFMAN "I know I am probably double last year." The high fuel prices are probably going to be with us for some time. It means farmers will pay more to prepare the land for planting and it will cost more to get their crop to market. Soda Springs grain producer Evan Hayes says it's not just the price of fuel that hurts it's the cost of fertilizer too. HAYES "With the eight dollar natural gas price that's going to push our nitrogen inputs. Most all the nitrogen we have is based on natural gas and so it's going push those prices up." Kauffman was lucky, he bought a lot of fertilizer before the price shot up. KAUFFMAN "But next year it's going to clean our clock." And Keith Esplin of the Potato Growers of Idaho says a shortage of trucks and train cars is another big problem for his industry. ESPLIN "I think it's a real problem for states like Idaho that are further from the market. We've got to find a way to make sure we can get our product to market or it doesn't do us any good." Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott