{"id":365843,"date":"2026-03-26T08:04:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/365843\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:04:22","slug":"rising-costs-force-local-farmers-to-consider-cut-backs-what-it-could-mean-for-consumers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/365843\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising costs force local farmers to consider cut backs; what it could mean for consumers"},"content":{"rendered":"

OSGOOD, Ind. (WKRC) – Rising costs are forcing tough decisions as farmers across the Tri-State prepare their fields for a new season.<\/p>\n

Keith Abbott is already considering cutting back on some operations to save money. While he hopes it doesn\u2019t come to that, it could mean smaller harvests\u2014and when farmers face those decisions, it can lead to higher food prices for all of us.<\/p>\n

Rising costs are forcing tough decisions as farmers across the Tri-State prepare their fields for a new season. Keith Abbott is already considering cutting back on some operations to save money. (WKRC, Provided)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Abbott is gearing up for planting season and will spend the next few weeks prepping his fleet. His nearly 800 acres are split between corn and soybeans, which he sells to an elevator. His last load was hauled off by three semis on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been hauling for a couple weeks, you know; they hauled probably 80,000 to 90,000 bushels away,\u201d Abbott said.<\/p>\n

With his sights set on the next season, the costs cutting into his bottom line are glaring\u2014fertilizer is the big one, and now fuel.<\/p>\n

Abbott can\u2019t wrap his head around how quickly the costs from tariffs and the war are being passed on to farmers, but he doesn\u2019t believe that\u2019s the whole picture. He can\u2019t help but think the industries they rely on are taking advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s sad to say, but they know they can up the charge and get it because, you know, we’re going to be needing it,\u201d said Abbott. \u201cIt’s not like, you know, we can wait six months and wait till it comes down. We need it now, and they know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbott says all of the chemicals used for fertilizer will likely cost him $200 more per acre this year. He buys his fuel in bulk and hasn\u2019t filled up since prices started rising.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll probably have about a thousand gallons, and you know, it’ll be $1,500 to $2,000 more than it was a month ago,\u201d said Abbott.<\/p>\n

He says that alone will impact operations. He likely won\u2019t till his soil as frequently, and it\u2019s possible he won\u2019t at all to save money on fuel.<\/p>\n

\"Rising<\/p>\n

Rising costs are forcing tough decisions as farmers across the Tri-State prepare their fields for a new season. Keith Abbott is already considering cutting back on some operations to save money. (WKRC)<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that, sometimes it’s, you know, you may get less yield. So, but then sometimes, the no-till works out good too,\u201d said Abbott.<\/p>\n

As a lifelong farmer, he says challenges have always worked themselves out\u2014and he\u2019s holding on to that.<\/p>\n

The average U.S. farmer is 58 years old. The American Farmland Trust estimates nearly one-third of the country\u2019s farmland will change hands in the next 20 years. At the same time, farm bankruptcies jumped 46% in 2025, with the Midwest and Southeast seeing the highest concentrations.<\/p>\n

Abbott worries about younger farmers who may not be as established. His advice: try to be patient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OSGOOD, Ind. (WKRC) – Rising costs are forcing tough decisions as farmers across the Tri-State prepare their fields…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,113,61,60],"class_list":["post-365843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}