Please Stock Up On Canned Goods ASAP
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Please stock up on canned goods ASAP. You don’t need the expensive #10 cans, unless you have more money than the rest of us. If you’ve been watching grocery prices climb, noticed empty shelves, or heard worried talk from farmers and food experts, your instincts are telling you something important. The American food supply is under serious pressure from multiple directions at once, and canned goods are one of the smartest, most practical ways your family can prepare. This post breaks down exactly what is happening, why it matters, and what you can do about it today.
Please Stock Up On Canned Goods ASAP
Farmers Are Selling Their Farms and Walking Away
The backbone of America’s food supply, the family farmer, is in serious trouble. According to the USDA Land in Farms report, the number of United States farms shrank by 15,000 in 2025 alone, bringing the total to just 1.865 million. Every single state either lost farms or held flat. Not one state gained farms. Texas, the state with the most farms in the country, lost 2,000 operations in a single year. In the Midwest, Minnesota lost 1,300 farms, while Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois each lost hundreds more.
The American Farm Bureau Federation confirmed in early 2026 what farmers across the country already knew: America is experiencing a new farm crisis. Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies surged by 46 percent in 2025, reaching 315 filings. That marked the second year in a row that farm bankruptcies increased. The Midwest accounted for more than a third of those bankruptcies, with a 70 percent year-over-year jump. In the Southeast, Arkansas recorded the greatest number of farm bankruptcies of any state and the largest single-year increase.
These Families Have Farmed For Generations
These aren’t just numbers on a chart. These are families who farmed for generations, deciding they could no longer continue. Farmers who once fed entire communities are being forced to choose between restructuring debt and shutting down entirely. When a family farm closes, that land is often absorbed by a larger corporate operation, shrinking the diversity and resilience of the food system everyone depends on.
Farm Aid, which has been tracking the crisis in real time, reports that in the first quarter of 2026, conditions show no sign of easing. High production costs, volatile tariffs, declining commodity prices, and drastic cuts to federal farm programs have hit farmers from every direction at once. A September 2025 survey found that 46 percent of United States farmers believed they were on the brink of a farm crisis, and 93 percent of lenders expected farm debt to continue rising into 2026.
Farmers Can’t Afford to Grow Vegetables
Even farmers who haven’t filed for bankruptcy are making painful cuts to what they plant and how much they plant. Iowa State University estimated the cost to produce a single bushel of corn in 2026 at $4.33, while cash prices for farmers across Iowa averaged only $4.11 per bushel. That means farmers are losing money on every bushel they grow, and have been doing so for four consecutive years.
Fertilizer costs spiked sharply during the 2026 planting season, with urea prices rising 30 percent due to disruptions in global nitrogen supply chains. Diesel fuel, which farmers use between two and six gallons per acre every growing season, hit a national average of $4.92 per gallon in March 2026, up from $3.59 per gallon just one year earlier. Seed costs for corn have risen 660 percent since 1990, more than double the overall increase in farm production costs over that same period.
When asked what changes they planned for 2026 due to economic pressure, farmers responded clearly: 61 percent said they would delay purchasing equipment, 36 percent said they would reduce fertilizer use, and 33 percent said they would cut other inputs. Less fertilizer and fewer inputs mean smaller harvests. Smaller harvests mean less food moving through the system toward your grocery store.
Off-farm income now makes up about 80 percent of the average family farm household’s income in 2025, up from 53 percent in 1960. More than 60 percent of farm operators worked off the farm in 2022. These are people who farm because they love it and because it’s their family’s legacy, not because it supports them financially. Many are one bad season away from selling.
Frozen Tree Blooms Are Wiping Out Fruit Crops
In spring 2026, a severe freeze swept through major fruit-growing regions, causing devastating damage. On the morning of April 21, 2026, the Hudson Valley and the entire Northeast experienced a hard frost that significantly damaged orchards and vineyards across the region. Bruce Brittain, owner of Rose Hill Farm in Red Hook, New York, told reporters he was anticipating a total or near-total loss of the entire 2026 fruit crop.
The most damaged crops included peaches, cherries, apples, grapes, and pears, in that order. Early-ripening apple varieties were hit the hardest. In Virginia, extension specialists described the damage to orchards around Winchester as unprecedented in at least eight years, with some growers reporting an almost complete wipeout of certain apple and peach varieties after temperatures plunged below forecast on April 8.
Check these Temperatures
This matters because of how fruit tree damage works scientifically. When temperatures drop to 28 degrees Fahrenheit during the bloom period, roughly 10 percent of flowers die. At 24 degrees Fahrenheit, approximately 90 percent of flowers die. No flower means no fruit. For small fruits like cherries and blueberries, even a moderate freeze can eliminate the entire year’s yield because large numbers of small fruit are needed for a viable crop.
Frost damage in 2026 is already tightening the outlook for fresh fruit and processing supplies for the rest of the year. For apples, peaches, and grapes, reduced availability affects not just fresh sales but also juice, concentrates, canned fruit, and food processing that relies on a consistent supply of fruit. Industry analysts noted that regions like the Mid-Atlantic will become net buyers of fruit rather than surplus suppliers, raising costs for downstream food manufacturers and ultimately for you at the grocery store.
As climate patterns become less predictable, these late-season freezes are likely to continue. The Arctic warming phenomenon pushes cold air southward in ways that are harder to forecast, leaving orchards vulnerable even when growers believe the frost season has passed.
Food Processing Centers Are Closing
The American food processing industry is quietly shrinking at a time when it can least afford to. Del Monte Foods shut its cannery in Modesto, California, in early 2026, eliminating 600 full-time jobs and up to 900 seasonal positions. That single closure removed a major processing hub for American-grown produce from the supply chain.
Tyson Foods announced the closure of its beef processing plant in Lexington, Nebraska, converted its Amarillo, Texas, beef facility to a single shift, and planned to close its prepared foods plant in Rome, Georgia. General Mills closed its pizza crust manufacturing facility. These aren’t small operations. They’re major links in the chain between farm fields and family dinner tables.
When processing plants close, the food that farmers do manage to grow has fewer places to go. This creates a bottleneck that isn’t immediately visible. Farms keep producing, but slowly and less efficiently, and the effects don’t always show up immediately on store shelves. Over time, however, fewer processing centers mean less food reaches families, especially during disruptions.
The Shortage of Cans Is a Hidden Crisis
Here’s something most families have never heard about, and it’s one of the most important pieces of the puzzle: there are very few places left in the United States that can actually make the cans needed to package food.
The Can Manufacturers Institute has reported that only three domestic tin mill lines remain open across the country. Three. The rest of the country’s canned food supply depends on imported steel and aluminum, both of which are now subject to significant tariffs.
Aluminum Tariffs
In February 2025, an executive order raised aluminum tariffs to 25 percent and removed all prior exemptions. By June 2025, those tariffs were raised again to 50 percent. According to calculations from the American Action Forum, these measures added more than $6 billion in additional annualized costs for consumers in the United States. Since tariffs account for roughly 12 percent of total canning costs, the ripple effect on canned food prices could push prices well beyond that percentage.
Major food companies have already absorbed massive hits. Conagra’s CEO said inflation and tariffs would add approximately 3 percent to the cost of goods sold, translating to more than $200 million in additional costs annually in 2026. Kraft Heinz expected organic net sales to fall between 1.5 and 3.5 percent. Campbell’s was looking at every available lever to mitigate the impact of tariffs.
The troubling reality is that aluminum tariffs have made it more expensive to can and sell American-grown food in America than to simply import food that has already been grown and canned abroad. A union representative from the now-closed Del Monte plant in Modesto put it plainly: the tariff increased the cost of canned foods so much that imported canned peaches undercut domestically grown and processed peaches. A domestic cannery lost to a foreign one, and 1,500 American jobs went with it.
What the Statistics Tell Us
As mentioned above, the picture that emerges from current data is sobering:
The number of United States farms has been declining for decades, falling by 15,000 in 2025 alone. Farm bankruptcies rose 46 percent in 2025, the second consecutive year of increases. Fertilizer costs are up 30 percent in the 2026 planting season. Diesel fuel costs for farmers rose 37 percent in one year alone. The cost of seed to plant corn has risen 660 percent since 1990. Agricultural lenders expected fewer than half of the United States farm borrowers to be profitable in 2026. Growers face projected losses of approximately $44 billion from their 2025 and 2026 crops combined.
Only three domestic tin mill lines remain open in the United States. Aluminum and steel tariffs added over $6 billion in annualized costs for consumers. Del Monte’s cannery closure alone eliminated up to 1,500 jobs. A severe spring 2026 frost caused total or near-total crop losses at multiple orchards across the Northeast. Fruit crops, including peaches, cherries, and apples, face serious supply reductions through the rest of 2026. More than 2.5 million people have lost SNAP food assistance benefits since July 2025.
Each of these statistics represents a link in a chain that connects your family to its food. Right now, multiple links are weakening simultaneously.
What Your Family Can Do Right Now
Stocking up on canned goods isn’t about fear. It’s about being practical and caring for the people you love. Canned foods are shelf-stable, nutritious, and often much cheaper today than they will be six months from now as tariff and shortage pressures continue to build.
Consider gradually building a rotating pantry of canned vegetables, fruits, beans, tomatoes, soups, meats, and fish. Look for sales and buy a few extra cans each week rather than making one large purchase. Rotate your stock by using older cans first and replacing them with new ones.
A basic emergency food supply of two to four weeks of canned goods for your household provides peace of mind during disruptions, whether that disruption is a weather event, a supply chain hiccup, a job change, or anything else life might bring. It also means you’re locked into today’s prices for products that are expected to cost more over the course of the year.
The farmers who grow your food are struggling. The plants that processed it are closing. The cans that hold it are becoming harder and more expensive to make. None of this means disaster is certain, but all of it does mean that stocking your pantry now is one of the wisest and most family-friendly things you can do today.
Living Without the Grocery Store
Final Word
The storm is already here, farmers are leaving the land, orchards are losing their blooms, processing plants are shutting their doors, and the cans to hold what little food remains are running short. The time to act isn’t when the shelves are empty. Stock up now, while you still can. May God bless this world, Linda
Sources: Farm Aid (April and May 2026), American Farm Bureau Federation (February 2026), USDA Economic Research Service, Iowa Farm Bureau (March 2026), Pro Farmer, Edible Hudson Valley (May 2026), Commodity Board (April 2026), American Action Forum (July 2025), Food Dive, Supply Chain Dive, USA Today Opinion (April 2026), Farm Policy News Illinois (February 2026), National Corn Growers Association (February 2026)
If people aren’t stocking up, it is because their eyes are closed and their ears are blocked. It is almost time for me to empty my freezer and can chicken.
Hi Janet, or they live under a rock. Just kidding. I went yesterday to get a case of Dole crushed pineapple. Here in Utah canned goods are usually cheaper at Walmart. I had to go through at least 20 cans to find 8 with out major dents. The shelves were bare, the worst I have seen in a very long time. Mark does our shopping and he said wow, glad we could get these 8 cans. Let’s hope people stock up. Linda
I’m with you, Janet. I bought 15 cases of canning jars for 10 and 11 a box; some quart and some pints.
Ready for tomatoes in July…if we get there and I’m skeptical of that.
Pray for those that have no clue. That’s all we as Christians can do.
Doubt those types are reading these posts.
Hi JayJay, I totally agree with you! Linda
Been buying canning jars for years. I am looking forward to tomatoes also, I already have blossoms. Things look bleak, but believers have nothing to fear.
Hi Janet, seeing tomato blossoms make us so happy! We are in a great place. Linda
Amen
Thank you for this article, Linda. I agree with Janet that people need to pay attention and stock up while the prices are somewhat reasonable.
Hi Paula I totally agree. Mark and I never buy soda but yesterday, I really wanted a 12 pack of Cherry coke or Cherry Pepsi. I know the ingredients are bad for me but that’s a story for another day. In the olden days they were 3 cases for $12.00. Now they 3 cases for $24.00 or $8.00 a 12-pack. Well, we didn’t get any. The price of the cans can influence many things. The pineapple was twice the price of the last time I bought. It’s not like our income is going up, good grief. How do people feed large families? Linda
Linda, I have no idea how people feed even small families. The last time I was at the grocery store, a young family was there and they were carefully checking prices on everything. It looked like they had a coupon app of some kind because the wife would say, “we can afford to get that with this coupon”. They had 2 little girls with them and my heart just broke for them. We are retired and our income isn’t going up either. I’m so glad for our garden and that we can a lot of our food.
Hi Paula, this is a rough time, I was lucky I knew how to can and make bread. And grew a garden and canned everything I could get my hands on. We lived close to orchards and they would let us walk through to pick up the fallen fruit. We were truly blessed. I agree with you, Mark and I spend very little on food these days, we are living off of our food storage. I have said this before, our kids do not want us to bequeath our Freeze-Dried Thrive Life #10 cans to them. LOL! It’s a fact. We eat it every single day. People need to practice, it’s not all its cracked up to be. I’m learning as I go. It’s fine. but, its different for sure. It takes more water than I have predicted. You are blessed to have garden. Life is good! Linda
Add to your list of stats Minute Maid who stopped making their frozen juice concentrates. The consumer is to blame for this one….. people are too lazy to mix juice at home. I’ll never understand that!!!
Hi Chris, I love their limeade. I better check this out. I always buy that in the summertime. Coca Cola bought them out and the demand and the cost of oranges from crop damages made the decision to stop making in the cans. You are right it said people want it in ready to serve cartons. Okay, there we go. Thanks for the heads up Chris, Linda
The Florida fruit industry had a tough year. We’ve had Citrus greening and this winter hard freezes.
With the rampant printing of money by so many countries and the debt, there’s really nothing good out there.
Your advice to stockpile normal grocery canned goods is good. I only buy when they are on sale or BOGO.
I’m learning how to use my recently acquired Instapot. I’m not getting rid of my regular pressure cooker. If power goes down, it works even on my Rocket type stove.
So many ways to cut costs. Making my own yogurt comes to mine. I make a mental game out of finding ways to cut costs. It’s always good to be frugal. Never good to be cheap…and sometimes being frugal means spending a little more for better value and longer use.
25 years ago, the man who owned the farm near my Dad sat on our porch here in Florida where we live. He had an 8th grade education, but was SMART. He’s gone now. I’ll never forget the wise words he said…”In the end, we are going to get to say that we lived in the glory years of this Earth. But, we can feel that it is coming to an end.”
We can all feel the change. When? We must remember that there is “our” time and “God’s” time.
No matter what- Life is good.
We piped today for the big Tunnels to Towers village. Seeing all those disable warriors…devastating injuries – So many people who don’t need shoes….Biblical.
I’m so grateful that my biggest worries might be getting in canned goods.
Hi CAddison, great comment, my friend. What a great thing to pipe for the big Tunnels To Towers. It does make us think about the disabled and what they have to do on a daily basis. I LOVE your comment, Linda
I was recently looking through a nearby Latin American grocery store and discovered several shelf stable meat options. Didn’t have time to do a thorough investigation but packets of pulled pork, with and without added sauces were reasonably priced. I’m going back to stock up on a few for the emergency supplies. There are other good alternatives to regular canned goods and pantry staples available in various ethnic stores as well.
Hi Alice, that a great tip, I have heard prices are cheaper at some of the Asian stores as well. Great tip, thank you! Linda
Sounds to me like we are all going to have to grow our own and process what we want to have for winter, just like they did years ago! I’m so glad I know how to put up food by canning, dehydrating and freezing. And I have the supplies I need to do them. My dear sweet Mother-in-law taught me to can. First thing I ever canned was green beans. LOL My MIL was an awesome person! She was my MOM (My Other Mother).
Hi Deborah, oh my gosh, I learned on green beans, we grew them and my girls and I snapped and pressure canned them. Best thing ever!! Your other Mother (MIL) was awesome to teach you! Linda
Yes, she was awesome! In so many ways. She and I had so many interests in common. Besides canning, all types of hand crafts. Sewing, crochet, knitting, embroidery. We even took a water color class together, and went to a water aerobatics class. We always had do much fun together. I was very close to her. She lived with us the last several years of her life. I miss her so much. She left us much too soon. Oh and our birthdays were 2 days apart. Almost 20 years apart.
Linda,
This is so timely. We are seeing reports of dismal crop results this year from too many places here in Texas. One that is timely to your post is from Fredericksburg, which is just a few miles northwest of us. It is an extremely large peach producing area that usually has many of the producers selling direct to consumers from their locations. There are also usually roadside fruit stands selling local peaches as well. We just had a news warning from the growers that there was basically no crop to harvest this year because of the late freeze killing the blooms. It warned that if folks see a roadside stand advertising Fredericksburg peaches for sale, they are not local and are being brought in from other areas.
Hi Harry, I’m so glad to mentioned this. It is so sad for these farmers and us the consumer of those juicy Fredericksburg peaches for sale!! In Southern Utah this group would advertise local fruits and vegetables, I wasn’t born yesterday. Some of the boxes were shipped in from California. And they were not affordable. So we left. In Hurricane, Utah they sell great peaches during “Peach Days”. I haven’t heard if they had a freeze. It would be too far for us to drive there. We have several option here. But I can’t can anymore, with oxygen I can’t be within 12 feet of a stove or fire. Such is life. I’m glad Texas is warning people. Linda
What we did was rotate the extra we’d bought in Covid. Then again when the shipping companies were going to strike. A few extra totes in a closet don’t hurt a thing and can make you feel better.
Even if it’s not for a specific event life happens.
Hi Matt, I totally agree with you. Food is food, stock it or starve. It can make you sleep at night knowing you have food to feed your family. Linda
Agree completely.
Hi Ray, I agree as well. Linda
I went the other way since I have lots of canned vegetables.
I bought chicken patties, hash brown patties, chicken breasts, tater tots, fries, dozens of $1 pot pies, cool whip (for the frozen berries), vienna sausages, canned hams, chicken noodle soups, and ramen noodles.
Word about the 1 lb. canned ham: three stores here had none on their shelves.
I found several at walmart and I don’t shop walmart but needed to for this item.
Managers told me ordering did no good….they were never shipped.
Fertilizer issues/dismal crop results/water issues ( Ky here had 13 inches since new year).
Last year, 38 inches by end of May…wow….I mean wow!!!
I don’t need a news flash…….get what you can afford, folks.
Hi JayJay, oh I should have gotten some Cool Whip, it’s cheaper than whipping cream. Plus we keep it in the freezer. Good one! I will have to look for the canned hams, good to know. Thanks for your ideas, we all need them. Linda
Guys, I know. I know. I sound like a broken record again, but you can get ALL KINDS of canned veggies and fruits from Azure Standard company, once you sign up to be part of their “club”. No membership fee, either. THEY CAN THEIR OWN LINE OF PRODUCTS as well as carry MANY brands of quality food products that are nationally known, so a canning facility is not any sort of a problem with them. They deliver your products to your local drop-off site, where you meet the semi-truck, so you don’t have to drive far at all. You will not get rock bottom prices, but their prices are regularly the same as our local grocery store or sometimes a little bit less. We don’t mind, because their products are top notch and they are frequently organic or at least non-GMO, so you’re not eating a ton of food that will give you cancer! Azure also sells their own brand of canning jars in all sorts of sizes, which are slightly tinted for retaining the food value, have slightly thicker walls for more strength, and they only use the Superb brand lids, which give you an amazing seal on your jars!! You can buy their canning jars with or without rings and lids, depending on what you want. Sorry, broken record, I know. I know, but for those who’ve never tried Azure, you’ll be super surprised at what you can buy and how great it is to buy cases and 25 lb. bags, delivered to you right next door! Great sales every month, too! Honestly, if it were not for Azure Standard, I think our food storage would be down by at least 1/3rd. We are so grateful for that company!!! I also love, love, love their produce!!! Fresh cherries, peaches, apricots, pears, cole crops, turmeric, ginger roots, pineapples, apples, mangos, you name it!! They even sell veg. plants, seeds and herb plants for your garden, even liquiid fertilizer!!
Hi Jess, great reminder on Azure Standard. I know people here in Utah that buy from them. Fresh fruit sounds so good right now! Linda
Linda, et al.: After posting just now, I called our dear organic orchard friends. Yes, they have had frosts and are unsure what fruits they will have to sell this year. Judy says they are just waiting to see what happens later in the spring…if there will be viable blossoms or not. I asked specifically about their amazing peaches and the apples. Last year, the orchards around them lost their entire crops of apples, but they were the only orchard in that area that had nearly a full crop! We ended up with 5 1/2 bushels of organic apples, and 24 quarts of organic peaches, which were the best!! I never knew that the local orchardists around here in the Fingerlakes could grow peaches that were that fantastic!! Well, we still have lots of canned fruit around here, anyway. I am going to go freeze-dry fresh asparagus today, as well, to see how that does… Continued from above: Oh, yeah, we depend upon Azure every month for bags of fresh organic potatoes, yams, beets and onions, too!! Now I see they are carrying sliced organic beef liver for frying. YAY!! On my order, that’s for sure!
Hi Jess, oh my gosh, I grew up on liver, I haven’t had it for years since I moved out on my own. Crazy weather everywhere that has ruined orchards. We pray for all Farmers and ranchers they can survive. Linda
I have been told that Delmonte has filed for bankruptcy . Time to stock up.
Hi Chris in the uk, you are so right. They have been in business for over 140 years, they are liquidating and closing all canning plants. It’s my understanding the fresh Del Monte products will still be available. The 420,000 cling free trees will be uprooted in California. So sad. https://fortune.com/2026/05/07/california-peach-farmers-destroy-420000-peach-trees-del-monte-bankruptcy-filing/. Linda