New Mexico Chile lovers will likely face higher prices this year at the market due to various impacts from severe weather labor shortages and inflation.
According to KRQE News, harvest season for chiles is next month and the various effects of Mother Nature and inflation affecting the cost of farming will lead to higher prices.
"To a New Mexican, chile is like turkey to Thanksgiving. It’s just that simple," Glen Duggins, chile farmer and owner of Five Star Chili Cinco Estrella in Lemitar, told KRQE News as he explained the difficulty going into the harvest. "We were out of water before it rained. Done! We were running pumps at a cost of $500 a day, day and night. For days. And then it rained."
This year, chile farmers faced adversity from drought, then sudden rains causing the chiles to be overwatered. Also impacting the bottom line is soaring levels of inflation which has affected everything from the cost of gasoline to fertilizer, and a labor shortage affecting the number of farmers available to plant and harvest crops.
“With today’s prices — everybody feels the pain at the pump. This thing here probably uses 200 gallons, 150 gallons at $6? That’s $1,000 to fill it up,” Duggins said of his tractor, according to KRQE News.
As a result of the rising cost of producing chiles and the impacts from the weather affecting crops, the chiles that do make it to market shelves will likely be more expensive this year than normal.
“Well, they love their chile here, but I don’t know how to price it, but it’s gonna be noticeably more money," Duggins told KRQE News. "We have always pulled through. And we’ll pull through this year. There’ll be chile at the store, but it’s gonna cost more."