ORANGE, Texas — Supply chain issues have caused inflation to skyrocket in several industries within the last year and farmers are paying the price in a big way.
A new projection from Texas A&M Agriculture suggests an 80% increase in the price of fertilizer.
Those costs could trickle down to you.
As winter turns to spring, fertilizer prices are reaching all-time highs.
Since 1928, Farmer's Mercantile in Orange has supplied customers with all the goods a farmer could need.
After the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the farm owner said everything has gone up.
Prices are reaching all-time highs, but one important product is seeing the biggest rise.
"Last year it was $13.50 a bag, this year its $22.25,” said Lue Harris, owner of Farmer's Mercantile. “Triple 8, which has always been our cheapest fertilizer, was like $8 a bag last year. This year it's $19.95 a bag."
Fertilizer prices are off the charts.
"Somebody probably needs to look at this a little bit harder,” said Texas A&M professor Dr. Joe Outlaw.
Outlaw is a professor of agriculture and economics at Texas A&M. He's been tasked by Congress to take a deeper look at this issue.
He said prices have risen in the past due to a shortage of natural gas.
"This time there is not a shortage of natural gas, so it's unclear, it makes you a little more skeptical on why it’s happening," Outlaw said.
He said the cost to make fertilizer has gone up and companies are having to compensate.
But those same companies are also asking for protection from the federal government. Which would block stores like farmers mercantile from buying overseas at a better price.
"The government might want to reconsider giving them those protections since we already have some of the highest prices we have ever had, and if they protect the industry from foreign competitors, it's for sure going to make the problem worse," Outlaw said.
So why should you care?
"You eat, don't you? You like to eat, you got to have fertilizer to make those plants grow, so you can have an abundance of food, that we've always had here," Harris said.
He said fertilizer makes up about a third of the costs for any given farmer.
So those prices at the grocery store may only continue to go up.