The Cost of Food Goes Directly Into the Farmer’s Pocket

A persistent myth in the eyes of the public and the media is that the only factor in food prices is what the farmer charges. Don’t we wish this were true? But in reality, only 15-16 cents of every food dollar goes to the farmer. The rest goes to things like transportation, processing, packaging and marketing. Farmers can barely pass along their direct costs for feed, fertilizer, labor or insurance. Their indirect costs are even more difficult, and when drought, hail, hurricane, flooding or other natural disasters wipe out a crop, they can lose most of their year’s income, but still have to bear all of those direct costs.