CARL AZUZ: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz.
Two of the topics that have dominated
the news in recent days are inflation--
the rise in prices of the stuff we buy,
and the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
what happens when you put these two together?
That's what economic analysts are trying to figure out.
To be clear, no one knows yet what kind of impact
Omicron is going to have.
The World Health Organization says
the Delta variant, a previous mutation of coronavirus,
is still causing most of the infections worldwide.
And as it began to spread earlier this year,
Delta caused a lot of the problems we're still
seeing with the supply chain.
That's included factory shutdowns, shortages
of manufacturing materials, and store shelves
with less inventory.
And the US Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank,
says the supply chain disruptions made
the inflation problem worse.
Earlier this year, officials said
rapidly rising prices would be transitory or temporary.
Now, the Fed's chairman is indicating
that America's inflation may not settle down anytime soon.
And a big reason why is that supply
issues are hard to predict.
They're not spread out evenly among factories,
shipping, trucking, warehouses.
And fears about the Omicron variant
may add to the complexities of the problem,
because if it spreads like Delta did, or sickens groups
of people who work closely together,
more factory closures could be on the horizon,
and people may be hesitant to work
with others in close quarters.
With a shortage of workers already causing challenges
in several different fields, anything
that keeps more people from working
could only make things worse.
But again, it's not known if Omicron will sicken people
the way Delta did, or if existing treatments
and vaccines will work against the disease.
So it's hard to predict any sort of future economic impact
at this point.
The current impact continues to take a toll, especially
on the nation's farmers.
GABE COHEN: As Jim Jones finishes the sweet potato
harvest on his North Carolina farm,
skyrocketing costs are slicing through his profits.
Are you seeing any more money from this inflation?
JIM JONES: No.
No.
We're actually paying for it.
GABE COHEN: The price of fertilizer,
fuel, and labor are way up with no ceiling in sight.
How did your profit change this year?
JIM JONES: I would say maybe 10, 15%.
GABE COHEN: What about looking ahead to next year?
JIM JONES: Add that much more to it again.
GABE COHEN: Despite those markups at the market,
many farmers say the price they receive
for their crop isn't going up.
So your price is staying the same.
JIM JONES: My price staying the same.
Or a little lower.
GABE COHEN: Why don't farmers just
raise the price of their crops?
PATTY EDELBURG: Farmers are--
are price takers, not price makers.
GABE COHEN: Patty Edelburg is vice president
of the National Farmers Union.
Who's making the money from that inflation?
PATTY EDELBURG: Much more the middleman than anybody else.
GABE COHEN: The USDA confirms that in many cases,
processors and distributors that get food from the farm to store
shelves are the ones passing along their surging costs
with materials and ingredients still stuck on cargo ships
and a shortage of labor and truckers
driving up wages and costs.
TREY MALONE: To some extent, we're
also trying to pay for the uncertainty in the marketplace
right now.
GABE COHEN: Trey Malone is an agricultural economist
at Michigan State University.
TREY MALONE: So we're in the middle
of a perfect storm of unique events
in agricultural production.
I would say buckle up for, for a while
longer of these higher input costs.
GABE COHEN: Some farms are stocking up on materials
in case suppliers run out.
Others are waiting, hoping prices will drop.
All these costs, especially labor,
are threatening Matt Alvarnaz's California sweet potato farm.
MATT ALVERNAZ: We were making $100,000 to $150,000 a year
in profit.
This year, we're probably going to lose $80,000 to $120,000.
GABE COHEN: And it's only getting worse.
MATT ALVERNAZ: We could potentially lose a quarter
of a million dollars next year.
We would not have enough cash to take into the following year
in order to get our our operating loan in order
to operate for the following year.
GABE COHEN: Farmers are used to volatility,
and both Alvarez and Jones are now looking for ways to adapt,
like downsizing or shifting to other crops.
JIM JONES: It's going to worry you, but I don't--
I ain't going to let it get me down.
We will survive somehow.
GABE COHEN: As long as these money problems stop piling up.
JIM JONES: We just need to get a fair price
for what we are growing.
GABE COHEN: Gabe Cohen, CNN Washington.
CARL AZUZ: 10 second trivia.
What is the smallest species of rhinoceros?
Sumatran, Javan, White, or Indian?
Sumatran is the answer, though they can still
weigh more than 2000 pounds.
But our next story concerns white rhinos,
the largest species, which can weigh more than 7,700 pounds.
There are two subspecies of white rhinoceros--
northern white rhinos, and Southern white rhinos.
The northern ones are on the brink of extinction.
These are believed to be the last two left in the world,
and they're both female.
Southern white rhinos were in similar danger
in the late 1800s.
At one point, there were believed to be fewer than 50
of them, but thanks in large part
to the work of a nature reserve in South Africa,
there are now thousands of Southern white rhinos.
Because they're still threatened by poachers-- illegal hunters--
dozens of these large animals have
been flown to another African park
where it's hoped they'll reproduce
and thrive for decades to come.
ZAIN ASHER: 40 hours and some 3,400 kilometers--
30 white rhinos complete a long journey from South
Africa to a new home in Rwanda.
It's the largest single transfer of the species and a move
to replenish the White rhinos struggling population,
one largely devastated by poaching since the 1970s.
The journey was no easy feat.
White rhinos are one of the largest land mammal species,
and can weigh up to two tons.
Following months of preparation, the partially sedated rhinos
were transferred from South Africa's
Phinda private game reserve.
They boarded a Boeing 747 to Rwanda
to their final destination--
Akagera National Park, a space that the staff of African parks
believes will provide a safe haven
for the threatened species.
JES GRUNER: White rhinos are being
persecuted on the continent.
Their numbers-- they are not stable.
They're on a knife edge.
They could go either way.
If something happened to Kenya or to South Africa
on the scene of White rhinos, that is where the majority
of white rhinos are.
Then white rhinos are really on the brink of extinction.
So it makes no better sense than to bring them into safe areas,
areas we know where they would thrive.
ZAIN ASHER: Grunis says the animals will be safer here
than they were in South Africa, where he says three rhinos
daily are killed by poachers.
JES GRUNER: We brought Black rhinos here in 2017.
They are thriving.
We brought the lions here.
They're thriving.
We've proven as the management of the park,
but also with the government collaboration,
that it's a safe progressive place,
and that we can ensure the security.
ZAIN ASHER: Poaching remains the primary threat to these animals
targeted for their horns.
There are only about 20,000 Southern White rhinos remaining
considered near threatened.
And only two females of another subspecies,
the Northern White rhino on the brink of extinction.
The 30 white rhinos are welcome additions
to the park, which has seen a decline in tourism
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
White rhinos enjoy grazing in open spaces,
so visiting tourists can expect to get a good look.
[speaking french]
IAN MUNYANKINDI: The White rhinos
are going to be seen in the open spaces
by almost all the tourists.
So it's going to be something that will really
help a lot on the tourism side.
ZAIN ASHER: Initially placed in two large enclosures,
authorities say the rhinos will soon
be able to roam the expansive park with plenty of room
to grow.
Zain Asher, CNN.
CARL AZUZ: After a few days on the lam,
Steve is finally back in the pen.
This is Steve.
He's a goat.
His day job, along with a team of other goats,
is helping the city of Clive, Iowa,
keep invasive plant species out of the green belt.
They do that by eating them.
But Steve recently went AWOL and spent 4 and 1/2
days wildly roaming the city.
Finally, a family cornered him at a car dealership
after he stopped to admire his reflection in the glass.
Seems he traded his freedom up for his pride.
You could say there's mutton to it,
it didn't cost him his hide, but all kidding aside,
he'd still be on the lam if he hadn't stuck his chin
out to admire his vanity.
He made a bad choice, saying it couldn't be clearer,
that he missed a bleat when he stopped to stare in the mirror.
You can't chew the cud reflecting
on your own reflection.
He should have hoofed it moving on ahead in any direction.
But in working for the city, he's
sure to get the vote-- that when it comes to escape,
artist Steve's the GOAT.
All right.
We love to recognize schools that use our show
and put up with my pun raps.
We find them exclusively in the comments section of our YouTube
channel, and today's shoutout goes
out to Laguna Hills High School in Laguna Hills, California.
I'm Carl Azuz.