It has been a truly, historically awful year for American farmers.
Purdue University puts out a monthly report called the Ag Economy Barometer, a series of surveys aimed at measuring the state of the American agriculture industry—and, more specifically, how farmers are feeling about the industry. They are currently…not feeling good.
The report is made up of interviews with 400 farm producers, asking them all kinds of things. How confident are you about making large investments in your farm? How confident are you in the value of your farmland? Do you expect your financial position to improve, decline, or stay the same in the next year?
The results were discouraging. Torrential flooding in the Midwest, lowered prices, surpluses of products like dairy, and, above all, the ongoing trade war with China have hit farmer sentiment like a heat-seeking missile. One year ago, 35 percent of respondents said they believed their equity will decline in the next year; in May 2019, that number leapt to 55 percent.
Farmers also increasingly believe their farmland to be less valuable; a year ago, 52 percent of farmers believed their farmland would increase in value, while in May, that number dropped to 39 percent.
Much has been made of farmer support for Donald Trump and his presidency. But payouts to help farmers through the trade war have been inadequate, slow, and unbalanced; New Food Economy reports that some farms are receiving millions of dollars, far above the allowed limit. China, the largest international buyer of American soybeans, is looking to other suppliers, like Brazil, potentially setting up a situation where even after the trade war theoretically ends, American farmers will have lost their buyer. Farmers still, despite this, mostly support the trade war, but support is waning. In March, 77 percent of farmers said they thought the trade war would ultimately benefit American agriculture; in May, that was down to 65 percent.
As a whole, the Purdue study finds that farmer sentiment is now lower than it’s been at any point since before the Trump presidency, the lowest since October of 2016.
Dump Trump!
Lets encourage these farmers to change how they do things. Let’s subsidize switching to regenerative agriculutre…cover crops, bio diversity, 4 season growing, community supported agriculture. Plant fruit and nut orchards. Lets take care of our farmers and show them that we are willing to support them with our dollars and community as they truly are what sustains our very lives.
Farmers are just about the only business that has greatly depended on the taxpayer to supplement their business with legislation that is flavorful to the AG industry, and fuel supplementing is only one and it is going to increase from 10% to 15% this year and soy bean production will be on the rise if Trumps policies hold up after the 2020 election. Stop your bitching to the taxpayers and start adapting to the market as most industries do.
I believe there are numerous solutions to these problems. Just a little looking will show tons of success stories of farmers who are breaking free of the commodity markets. Farmers are notoriously stubbor and resistant to change, therefor my first suggestion would be to get them thinking in a new paradigm (outside of the box). I know that switching things up is hard to do, but something has to give! No matter what stories are making the headlines, people still need to eat. People will always need to eat! There is no shortage of customers. The difficulty is in connecting… Read more »