Wednesday 17 August 2022 10:34 PM At least 37% of American farmers say they are KILLING existing crops and ... trends now

Americans already struggling with inflation may soon have to pay even more for food as farmers kill off their existing crops and sell their livestock amid ongoing drought conditions.

According to a new report from the American Farm Bureau Federation, an insurance company and lobbying group that represents agricultural interests, 37 percent of farmers from the Great Plains through California are killing off crops that won't reach maturity — up 13 percent from last year.

One-third of farmers also reported destroying or removing orchard trees and other multi-year crops, up from 17 percent the year before, while two-thirds of respondents reported selling off portions of their herd or flock.

They said they were forced to do so due to ongoing drought conditions as the Farm Bureau Federation estimates nearly 60 percent of the west, south and Central Plains are experiencing severe droughts following the third-hottest July on record.

It also ranked in the top 10 hottest Julys on record for every state in the west except for Montana, the National Centers for Environmental Information reported, while the US Department of Agriculture says a 'rapidly intensifying drought gripped the central and southern Plains, and mid-west.'

Much of the western United States is still under extreme drought conditions, according to the US Drought Monitor, and Zippy Duvall, the president of the Farm Bureau Federation told CNN Americans may feel the effects of this drought 'for years to come'

He explained that US consumers will now have to even spend more on certain meat and crops as they consider 'partially relying on foreign supplies or shrinking the diversity of items they buy at the store.' 

The Farm Bureau Federation's survey — which was sent out to state and county Farm Bureau leaders, farmers and ranchers in 15 states that make up half of the country's agricultural production value from June 8 to July 20 — shows that there was a massive shortage of harvest yields this year.

Seventy-four percent of farmers reported a 'prevalent' was a reduction in harvest, and many are now destroying some of their existing crops to make way for others that could hopefully survive.

In California, for example, half of all respondents said they have had to remove their trees and multiyear crops due to the ongoing drought conditions there, where authorities are limiting water usage.

One producer even reported dropping all fruit on five acres of young Cabernet grapes to help them survive after zero water was applied over the last two years. 

At the same time, Duvall said, 'Many farmers have had to make the devastating decision to sell off livestock they have spent years raising' as 57 percent of respondents reported having local restrictions on water use.

And as inflation continues to run rampant, at 8.5 percent, the price of fertilizer for grass, crops and feed remains expensive, and the cost of diesel makes it prohibitive for ranchers to truck in additional water.

Herds are now down 50 percent in Texas, where one rancher said, 'We have sold half our herd, and may not be able to feed the remaining.'