[Baltimore Sun] Little rain and lower grain prices cause Carroll farmers to lose profits in 2023
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Farmer Harry Sellers, owner of Panora Acres Inc., north of Manchester, has seen his profits drop by about $500,000 between 2022 and 2023, due in part to dry weather and lower grain prices.
The past president of the Carroll County Farm Bureau, Sellers said rising fertilizer prices, slipping grain sales and unpredictable weather impacted his 2,000-acre farming operation, where he grows wheat, corn, soybeans, green beans and hay.
“Ever since 2022 grain prices have been slipping off, the cost of fertilizer has doubled and corn prices have slipped off,” he said. “Weather is also a big thing in Carroll County. The last few years were pretty dry. A lot of guys are planting green beans all day, and they end up with only a truckload.”
Sellers is not alone. The U.S. Department of Agriculture this month released its net farm income data, which shows a 23% drop in farmers’ income since 2022, according to a Sept. 6 news release from the Maryland Farm Bureau.
“Maryland farmers are incredibly aware of the problems that such a steep loss of income can bring,” said Farm Bureau President Jamie Raley. “It is imperative that our elected officials come together and pass farmer-friendly legislation to support the farmers that feed and fuel our local communities.”
In 2022, gross income was approximately $3.8 billion, while net cash income was about $1.5 billion, or $124,112 per farm, according to state data. Total production expenses were approximately $2.4 billion, or $194,864 per farm, while net farm income was $1.5 billion, $124,132 per farm.
Before 2022, Carroll County farmers were holding their own, according to a March 4 news release from Carroll County government. The county cited statistics released by the Department of Agriculture in February.
The Department of Agriculture compared data collected in 2017 to statistics gathered in 2022. Those numbers show the total market value of farming products sold in Carroll County increased 25.39%, from $110 million to $138 million. The number of farms held steady, increasing slightly from 1,174 to 1,180. The number of organic operations in the county increased 175% from four to 11, and the market value of crop, grain, fruit, berry and tree sales grew 18%.
“The agriculture industry has always been and continues to be a cornerstone for our county,” District 2 Commissioners’ President Ken Kiler stated in the news release. “It is an economic driver as well as an essential part of the county’s heritage, tourism, and scenic landscape.”
The number of acres farmed, however, declined in the county from 146,000 acres in 2017 to 130,000 acres in 2022, or 11.3%, according to the data.
“You can’t tell somebody what they can do with their land,” Sellers said. “Farms disappear and houses go up. There’s less land to farm. It seems people don’t have another generation coming behind them to farm. The towns keep building out.”
Sellers said the popularity of building solar projects in the county is another example. There are currently six applications before the Maryland Public Service Commission to build solar facilities on farmland in Hampstead, Sykesville and Westminster.
The applications are in various stages of the approval process. Since new solar-generating farms are prohibited on farmland, according to the county’s zoning code, each of the applicants has chosen to apply to the state instead.
The fact that the county’s prohibition of solar facilities on agricultural land can be overridden by the state is of great concern to state Del. April Rose, who represents District 5 in Carroll County.
“I struggle with the reality that the state can bypass our local decision-making process, but I don’t want to deny farmers what they can do with their land,” she said.
The proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, which would see 70 miles of 500,000-volt transmission lines run through farmland in Carroll, Frederick and Baltimore counties, is a major concern.
“They want to ride roughshod over prime farmland,” Rose said. “We as a delegation oppose this.”
Del. Christopher Tomlinson, who also represents District 5 in the General Assembly, agrees.
“This is not what the farming community wants,” he said. “Clearly the farmers are going to suffer from a giant publicly traded company buying up farmland in the county for power lines.”
As the controversy over the project grows louder, farmers continue to farm while facing fluctuating commodity prices and unpredictable weather.
“In the winter you usually get snow, which we need to help grow wheat,” Sellers said. “You need snow to help build up the soil, but in 2023 we hardly had any snow. Wells have been going dry over the last two years.”
Diversifying could be the answer.
“I also sell beef cattle,” Sellers said. “Being more diversified and trying to sell directly to consumers helps. You see all these fruit stands. There’s now a wagon sitting out in the front of every farm. If you can sell directly to the consumer that’s good. Direct sales is always a nice thing.”
But even that is dependent on weather.
“Farming has always been a risky business to be in,” Rose said. “You’re always subject to the weather.”
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