AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Farmers are feeling the pain of those sky-high fuel costs. Many say they're struggling to keep up with the rising prices of things like fertilizer and farm machinery. Josh Gackle is a former chairman of the American Soybean Association and a third-generation farmer himself. He joins us now from Kulm, North Dakota. Good morning.
JOSH GACKLE: Good morning, Ayesha. It's good to be with you.
RASCOE: The price of fuel has always fluctuated across the years. What makes this time different in particular?
GACKLE: I think this year, it's just the sudden and rapid increase coming at a time when farmers are certainly more dependent on that fuel supply getting into our fields and starting to plant the crop for 2026. Just that added uncertainty and that added cost at such a rapid rate at a pretty critical time makes it unique this year.
RASCOE: What is the real impact of these rising fuel costs on farmers? Like, how does it affect the bottom line?
GACKLE: We're now, you know, into the fourth year where projected incomes on the farm - no matter what crop you're growing, the cost of production is much higher than what we expect to get when we sell that crop in the fall. So in the fourth year of that now, that added uncertainty, that added risk creates a pretty significant headwind.
RASCOE: What are you hearing from families who farm soybeans about, like, how they're reacting to this price impact? Does it affect how they farm, how much they produce? Does it affect their outlooks for the future?
GACKLE: Well, I think you're going to certainly see operations changing the way they do things this year. There may be more of a particular crop or, you know, maybe less corn and more soybeans planted this year, just because the initial cost to plant and grow that crop is less than what it takes for corn. But all those decisions are still being made.
I mean, farmers are going to be getting in the field here in the next few weeks and finalizing those decisions. But it certainly affects our small towns and our rural communities and the small businesses that we work with closely, whether it's lenders or the co-ops or the suppliers of the seed and the fertilizer that we rely on. You know, it affects all those businesses. You know, $1 spent in farm country by farmers and producers - it ripples through our local economies and our small towns and our small businesses. So it's not just what's happening on my farm and in my business, but what's happening in the small town that I live in as well.
RASCOE: And what about, like, trade policy and that? Have soybean farmers been affected by that? I know China's started back buying soybeans, but they hadn't, and that was a huge issue for a while.
GACKLE: For U.S. soybean farmers, China historically has been our No. 1 customer when it comes to a international market, so we are certainly reliant on that. We did see China - like you said, China came back in and started buying, getting back to some of those levels, but they're not where they were before the trade disputes happened. And China being the largest customer, it's - you know, it's something you can't just replace overnight or in a short amount of time. U.S. soybean farmers have spent decades building that relationship, and once you lose it, it's hard to get back. And, you know, we look to diversify and find other international partners and work hard to do that. But again, replacing China in a short amount of time is - it doesn't happen that way. It takes longer than that.
RASCOE: Generally, what are you worried about most for your industry?
GACKLE: You know, I think it's the ability to maintain - to keep those operations going through a series of down years in farm economy. You know, thankfully, we've had some disaster assistance and some aid from USDA and from the government to kind of help fill the gap and to balance out these low times, but farmers would much rather have predictable and reliable markets that we can sell into and that we can plan for. We certainly don't like to, you know, have to rely on or depend on farm programs to keep our operations afloat, and it's just not sustainable either. It's not sustainable for the U.S. economy, for the federal government. So federal policy and international policy that gives farmers a long-term and predictable market would be much more preferred. But the added uncertainty and risk here now, especially with prices related to fuel and fertilizer, creates that added stress level.
RASCOE: That's Josh Gackle. He's the former chairman of the American Soybean Association. Thank you so much for joining us.
GACKLE: Thank you, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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