And...an opinion piece that says something different:
The struggle of family farmers is real
This week nearly 400 of National Farmers Union’s family farmer and rancher members will descend on Capitol Hill to explain just how tough the situation is in farm country. Many of them are struggling through yet another year of crop prices that are below the cost of production. With little cash flow and worsening credit conditions, family farmers’ financial challenges are only growing.
To be clear, farmers’ financial woes didn’t begin with this administration. In fact, 2019 is projected to be the
fifth consecutive year of below-average net farm income. But the trade wars made a bad situation much worse. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), agricultural exports are
expected to decline by $8.9 billion this year.
The effects on prices have been obvious. Since the tariffs went into effect last June, soybean exports have fallen by 25 percent. Over that same time frame,
soybean prices have dropped by nearly two dollars per bushel. The average acre of soybeans in the U.S. netted a loss of $5.62 last year. The net return on corn and wheat is even worse. The bottom line is that many farmers are losing money on every acre they plant.