SPECIAL REPORT
JACKSON COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL
RIPPLE EFFECT Falling commodity prices and water protection issues dominate the Jackson County agricultural landscape by JASON DEHART
T
he business of Jackson County is farming, and farming is a business much like any other. Except it’s harder and not very predictable. Rising and falling commodity prices can have a big impact on a rural economy, and right now, Jackson County is facing the latter situation. “The biggest thing going on in farming now is we’ve seen a significant reduction in income,” said Doug Mayo, Jackson County extension director. “Almost everything we grow is sold as commodities, whether it’s cattle or peanuts or corn or soybeans, and all those things are sold on a fluid market that changes every day. Of course, the
larger farmers certainly try to contract to lock in a price before they plant, but there’s not a lot of control over the prices they receive.” According to the University of Florida, Jackson County farmers contribute $624 million to the local economy. They also account for 4,026 full- or part-time jobs. Farms are the second largest employer behind government. Peanuts, cotton and cattle are the “big three” commodities grown in Jackson County, and all three are subject to swings in price. For instance, Mayo said cotton was a dollar a pound back in 2012, but this year it’s 62 cents. There’s some hope it may get up to 70 cents this year, but it didn’t happen last year. That may not be high enough to reach the breakeven point, he said. “Most farms tell you they need 80 cents Jackson County a pound to cover their is producing more peanuts expenses,” Mayo said. than ever, reports “So what’s challenging Doug Mayo, the is the cost associated county’s extension director. The with growing the crop development of and the fixed cost to disease-resistant cover tractors, and strains of goobers has increased employees, and faciliyields. ties and storage bins.” Overall, “I guess the big thing that is changing is the economy of farming. 2012 was a banner year, and since then it’s been declining, so the profit
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margin is really diminished in farming, and that impacts the whole community.” Federal farm subsidies are also down a bit, and that has hurt farmers too, but one challenge in particular is China’s down economy. China is a major buyer of Jackson County cotton and peanuts. “The economy in China has declined, and we are not exporting what we were three years ago,” Mayo said. “Certainly most of our peanuts and corn are used domestically, but when you lose a percentage of your overall market, it hurts. Regarding peanuts, we’ve had some breakthroughs with diseaseresistant varieties and we’re producing more peanuts than we every had, which is a good thing, but if you can’t find a home for extra peanuts, the price goes down.” And when prices go down, it sends ripples throughout a farming community like Jackson County. “In 2012, we bought new trucks and tractors and new implements,” Mayo said. “At that point, crop prices were good enough that you were purchasing herbicides and pesticides, anything needed to make a top yield, because the price covered that and rewarded you. But when the price falls, you have no choice but cut back, and we’ll see lowered production and lowered income. And that affects a lot of small businesses in a rural county. There’s not as much money to spend when these commodity prices fall like they have. The parts stores and agricultural supply dealerships that sell fertilizer and feed and pesticides/herbicides are all affected when prices decline. So it definitely affected the total economy of this county, and there’s not a lot of control. You have to get by until things improve.”
PROTECTING JACKSON BLUE Commodity prices aren’t the only issue on the minds of Jackson County farmers. Jackson Blue Spring, a first-magnitude spring and one of the county’s hotspot