Despite the electricity threat, Clare said he is not any busier this year than any of the previous years helping farmers to maximize the efficiency of their irrigation systems. Part of the problem is farming is not great right now because commodity prices are low and many farmers are not upgrading. A spokesman for a Stockton packing facility, who asked to not be identified, said the business is going to have to pass at least one third of their electric rate increase onto their customers. I just hope this is a short-term issue. If not, oh boy, it s the consumer who is going to be beat up by this.
Farmers can absorb just so much of the costs.
If this crisis continues, I think there will be farmers who will eventually go out of business. We deal with perishable commodities, which for us is a very big deal. Consequently, we have been forced to have back-up generators and that has been a very significant cost for us, the packing shed executive said. And the back-up systems can burn 200 gallons of diesel per hour. We re not going to buy back-up generators, but will rent instead because our season is fairly short.