Gas prices may have dropped a few cents at the pump last week,
but farmers are still reeling from the impact of high fuel prices,
and they’re not the only people noticing their wallets getting
lighter.
Gas prices may have dropped a few cents at the pump last week, but farmers are still reeling from the impact of high fuel prices, and they’re not the only people noticing their wallets getting lighter.
With diesel fuel prices currently sitting at $2.02 a gallon, 39.3 cents up from last year, the added cost of transportation is trickling down from truckers, to processors, farmers and ultimately consumers.
“I don’t like it, but, obviously, I’ll just have to pay more,” Hollister resident Karin Miyabara said.
She shops for groceries every two weeks and said during her trips to the store she buys at least one bag of lettuce, which costs between $1.50 and $3.50, and a head of iceberg lettuce which cost 89 cents at Nob Hill Foods on Monday.
San Benito County Agriculture Commissioner Paul Matulich said added costs trickling down to farmers and consumers is “the same old story.”
“If someone gets something tacked on, they pass it to the next guy and so on,” he said. “The farmers pay, you pay and I pay.”
Sandy Yuste, bookkeeper for McAbee Trucking, said the fuel surcharge that growers pay has gone from 5 percent in January, to 12 and 16 percent today. An example of this increase is if a farmer wants to ship produce and it costs $376 to transport, there is a $45 surcharge for fuel, compared to only $18.75 in January. The surcharge is the trucking company’s percent that is used for gas and transporting expenses.
“They understand why they (farmers) have to pay it, but it just makes things hard on everyone,” Yuste said.
Lettuce farmer Steve Nishita said the increasing freight costs have made lettuce less profitable this season. Farmers break even when they sell a 24-count carton of lettuce for $6, Nishita said, but the current market price is at only $4.50 because of the added shipping costs.
“The market price is down because shipping is so high,” he said. “The guy on the other end is saying ‘it’s going to cost me this much just to get the lettuce from you to me, so I can only give you this much for it.’ ”
Frank Capurro, part owner of Capurro Marketing, buys Nishita’s lettuce and then ships and sells it to others. He said everyone, especially farmers are hurting from the rise in gas prices.
“Oh, sure they’re seeing the effect,” he said. “It’s been negative since mid-February.”
Christine Tognetti can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 330 or at
ct*******@fr***********.com
.
