DELAWARE – After surviving a lack of rain and storms earlier this year, one of Delaware’s oldest professions is now weathering another storm – an agricultural recession.
Delaware farmer and American Soybean Association Chairman Richard Wilkins said the troubles will continue for some time, but Delaware is in a good position to power through.
“Because of our poultry sector and the diversification that we have in our whole agriculture sector, we will likely be better able to sustain through this agricultural recession that the country is in right now,” Wilkins told the Delaware Business Times.
Farmers like Wilkins have faced several major challenges over the past year which will continue to plague the industry into the new year, as well, such as supply and demand issues, inflation, and, specifically in Delaware, the drought that occurred earlier in 2024.
With supply and demand dropping commodity prices for crops at around 35%, farmers still have to pay the cost of doing business – namely for seed, fertilizer, fuel and more.
“Those items have been impacted greatly by inflationary pressures and those prices for what we have to buy to produce our goods have been very, very slow to come down. That’s what you refer to as the cost-price squeeze,” he said.
While crop prices remain low, he said livestock prices are proving to be a “shining light in agriculture” as pork, beef and dairy prices reach a higher peak in their pricing cycles. The Delmarva region’s poultry sector also remains steady as farmers continue to work with larger, contracted businesses like Mountaire Farms, Perdue and Allen Harim, although the recent migratory waterfowl that arrived in Delaware with Avian Influenza may create an unanticipated fallout.
“That could be very devastating to our agricultural community on Delmarva if our commercial flocks become affected. It would be harmful to agriculture as a whole,” he warned.
As farmers continue to navigate their evolving industry, several new and continuing efforts are on their side to help guide the way.
Legislators at the federal level passed a continuing resolution before Christmas that allowed the government to continue its regular funding measures, but it also included some provisions to support farmers as they begin emerging from their recession such as $21 billion for disaster relief and $10 billion for economic assistance, both for farmers, as well as a one-year extension of the current farm bill.
Delaware Farm Bureau Executive Director and Governor-elect Matt Meyer’s pick for Delaware’s next Secretary of Agriculture Don Clifton, a farmer in Sussex County, said the First State has also put forth recent measures to assist farmers like House Bill 87 which offers additional crop insurance support to the industry.
“We’ve done some good things for Delaware farmers, there’s no question about it. And the members of legislature respond to programs that makes sense,” Clifton told DBT.
