NC farmers struggle to keep prices low, despite rising costs

LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — Agriculture is big business in North Carolina, bringing in $100 billion to the state every year.

But as labor costs on farms continue to climb, farmers across the area are trying to keep the prices in the grocery store from going up more this year.

It’s harvest time on several farms in western Lincoln County, where farmers like Alan Davis are picking tomatoes and selling peaches. Davis and his father grow strawberries, peaches, and apples in their orchards located in the Vale community.

Davis said each year, costs keep going up.

“I can’t eat the costs. I have to pass it on, so the costs for everything for the consumers is going up as well,” he told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty. “There is nothing I can do about that.”

Davis said his labor costs have doubled in the past decade.

Just down the road, Ray Wright has 50 seasonal workers on his tomato farm. He said he’s paying them $15 per hour — 35% more than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m afraid farmers — it’s going to put them plumb out of business,” Wright said. “Can’t keep going on.”

In a field near Caesar, Victor Diaz is picking vegetables in 90-degree heat. Tomatoes from the field will then be shipped up and down the East Coast.

Diaz said he appreciates the higher wages, telling Faherty some of his earnings will go back home to Mexico.

“Well, it is very important, more than anything, to help the family to get ahead, since here is the opportunity and we look forward to everything we do,” he said.

The USDA said on some farms that produce fruits and vegetables, labor costs are more than a third of a farmer’s budget. But even farmers who don’t hire as many workers say prices on everything else, from fertilizer to equipment, have risen dramatically.

Alexander County dairy farmer Coy Reese showed Faherty a single bolt he bought to fix his Bush Hog. It cost him $25.

“If you don’t grow up in it or inherit it, it’s hard to buy into a dairy farm now,” he said.

Reese’s family has been farming their land for 70 years now. Despite the challenges, he said he’d do it all again.

“It’s a rewarding life, but it’s a hardworking life and long days,” he said.

Alan Davis believes farmers will have to try new ideas to stay profitable.

“We’re trying to figure out ways to move forward in maybe a different way,” he said. “I’m going to have to get creative in ways that I never really thought about in the past.”

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