Drought, labor shortages and a strong US dollar will continue to influence specialty crop producers next year according to CoBank’s 2023 Year Ahead Report.
Ag economist Tanner Ehmke tells Brownfield this is the third year of intense drought for some key growing regions and water availability is tight.
“Right now, water prices are record high or trending toward record high and that is a concern for our growers, especially out west in regions like California.”
The report also highlights tightening farm labor and increasing labor wages as headwinds for specialty crop farms next year.
