By Clint Thompson
Planning for future crops means preparing now for some specialty crop producers. In an era when supply availability is uncertain, growers need to consider the ramifications of delaying supply purchases that will be needed in the future. They may not be able to purchase the supplies at all.
Farmers like Greg Collier are not just vying for products against their fellow producers. He is competing against other industries as well.
“I know there’s talk about plastic especially. If you don’t book plastic for the fall right now, you’re not going to get it they’re saying. The plastics companies don’t just make plastics for agriculture, they make it for industry and all kinds of things,” Collier said. “It’s the same thing with the box companies. We buy a lot of boxes, and we tend to think we’re their big deal. But actually, the auto industry is the biggest purchaser of cardboard boxes that we use. They use them for auto parts. They put all of their windshield wipers in one and all of their headlights in one. That’s how they ship them to the manufacturing plants.”
Collier, a Florida watermelon producer, took the initiative with pallets. Pallets are instrumental in a grower’s ability to ship their product from the farm to the store. All vegetables and specialty crops, whether they are peaches, blueberry clamshells, watermelons or any vegetables, are shipped on pallets.
“Pallets are the same way. I’m one of the largest users of CHEP in the Southeast. They can’t keep us supplied,” Collier said. “I actually stockpile them in the offseason. I’m sitting on about 100 loads of CHEP’s pallets right now. We can’t get them fast enough on time when we do need them,” Collier said.
Input availability is a major concern shared by specialty crop producers, and it is reflected in the Ag Economy Barometer. Respondents were asked during a March survey about inputs, to which 19% responded that availability was their biggest concern. A little more than one-fourth, or 27%, of producers say they had difficulty purchasing inputs for the 2022 crop season.