Tractor Shortage Could Lead To Higher Grocery Bills

WOODLAND (CBS13) - High gas prices are impacting food costs, and supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic could make it worse.

A shortage of tractors would create a pinch in your pocketbook.

Cody Hamer with Garton Tractor in Woodland shows us what's on his lot.

"We've had tractors on order for over a year and they're just now showing up," he says.

He says tractors are sitting in the port for months and manufacturers are shutting down, especially in places like Italy where a lot of their tractors are made.

"So we do New Holland here at this location. Those are back-ordered. We have Kubota back-ordered at our other locations.  The Kawasaki Mules are back-ordered -- we can't even order any in for a lot of the products," he said.

It's impacting hundreds of dealers, forcing prices to go up 4%-6%.

"Surcharges just for the steel is going up as well. That's another 10%-15% surcharge on top of the price," he said.

And that's a lot of green when you're forking out anywhere from $250,000 to $750,000 for a piece of farming equipment.

The tractor price goes up, food price goes up, fuel going up -- even service, labor's going up. Workers' cost is going up so it's all just chain reacting now," he said.

Almond grower JT Kahal predicted these types of problems associated with the pandemic.

"The big problem is here cane was only wasn't a part during harvest. You couldn't get a part for several weeks or months," he said.

He says other farmers weren't so lucky and lost out a part of their harvest. He worries the worst is yet to come.

Hamer says farmers are trying to work with what they have, but that demand is forcing suppliers to look for their own supply.

"Sometimes we have to go through different manufacturers to get them in and a lot of times parts are just getting custom-built," said Hamer.

It all comes to the cost of farmers.

"This time last year there were about 900 bucks or up to about $1,500 now," said Hamer.

And that can leave a bad taste in your mouth when you look at your grocery bill. Industry experts say the price of used tractors has as much as doubled and farmers are willing to pay that because it's still far less than the cost of new equipment.