Higher energy costs are causing hikes in agricultural expenditures across the U.S. with diesel fuel and fertilizer prices also weighing heavily on farmers. Texas farmers have seen their electricity costs increase dramatically, and fertilizer, which is made from natural gas, is undergoing sharp price increases as well.

According to the Houston Chronicle, “corn producers, (corn is a key ingredient to ethanol) in West Texas are feeling the pinch. Billy Bob Brown, who will grow corn and cotton near the town of Panhandle, 30 miles northeast of Amarillo, said it’s going to cost him 46 percent more to plant 700 acres of corn. Most of that is fertilizer, he said.”

Don Langston, a West Texas cotton farmer, revealed that his electricity costs will climb higher again during the growing season as utility companies add a surcharge during peak usage months. Langston must use electricity for his pump engines’ horsepower to irrigate crops.

Parts of Texas, which is the nation’s largest cotton producing state, have returned to drought conditions already this year. This will make it more difficult for Texas farmers as they are increasingly dependent on electricity.

To read the entire article from the Houston Chronicle, link here:

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