Pesticides, Fertilizers, and Agricultural Chemicals 



The costs of agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides gener- 

 ally declined from 1975 to 1979, but since then costs have begun to rise. 

 Only the price of limestone has remained stable. In 1978 in Southwest Flor- 

 ida, fanners spent $12 million real dollars on fertilizer, an increase of 30% 

 since 1954, whereas the State reported an increase of 41%. In 1978, farmers 

 also spent $8.4 million real dollars on other agricultural chemicals. 



Vehicles, Machinery, and Energy 



In 1975-79, the real cost of vehicles, trucks, cars, tractors, and farm 

 implements increased. Even though the real price of tractors rose about 50%, 

 farmers have increased their use of tractors and other implements. The number 

 of tractors increased by 46% and trucks by 26%. Farmers have increased the 

 use of these inputs because they have substituted them for labor or land. As 

 machinery has become more efficient, it has allowed the farmer to lower his 

 use of land and labor, and because it is more productive, its cost per unit of 

 output is declining. 



Real fuel and energy prices have also increased substantially. The cur- 

 rent price paid for diesel fuel rose from 10.2 cents per liter in 1975 to 25.3 

 cents per liter in 1979. In real prices, this was an increase from 6.9 cents 

 to 8.6 cents per liter. Gasoline price increases were similar to that for 

 diesel fuel. 



Wages 



In 1975-79, the wages of all farm labor increased about 38%. When this 

 is broken down into categories "piece rate" workers received the largest in- 

 crease (45%) in wages. Farmers have not decreased the use of labor because 

 the high value of land has forced them to substitute labor and capital for 

 land in the production of agricultural products. 



To increase profits, most farmers will continue to adjust their use of 

 inputs as their relative prices change Op to the point of technical feasibil- 

 ity. They will also continue to use an input until the point where the cost 

 of an additional unit of input equals the revenue from the sale of an addi- 

 tional unit of output. Most farmers will increase the use of fertilizers as 

 long as the cost is less than the revenue. 



AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES 



In 1978, Southwest Florida contributed about 16% of the State's cash 

 receipts from the sale of agricultural products. Crops (i.e., vegetables, 

 fruits, and field crops) accounted for 64% of the contribution and 13.7% of 

 the State's total crop sales (excluding forest products). Livestock and poul- 

 try products accounted for 36% of the Southwest Florida's total agricultural 

 value and 19% of the State's total animal product sales. The stumpage value 

 of the forest harvest was only $4,170,000 in 1978 current dollars. 



The counties ranked by agricultural sales in Southwest Florida are: 

 (1) Hillsborough, (2) Manatee, (3) Pasco, (4) Collier, (5) DeSoto, (6) Lee, 



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