October 6, 2025

The economic crisis once in a generation in rural America means that many farmers could face last year

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The 40th Farm Aid Benefit Concert takes place on Saturday, because the economic perspectives of rural America are the darkest that it has been for decades.

On Wednesday, a survey published by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) showed that 46% think that the United States is on the verge of a farm crisis, and 33% may perhaps have.

Meanwhile, approximately two -thirds said that they were more concerned with their financial situation compared to a year ago, with 58% purchases of postponement equipment, 38% reducing fertilizer requests and 22% looking for more income outside farm.

“These results indicate a unique problem for the agricultural economy,” said Krista Swanson, chief economist of the NCGA, in a statement. “The results of the survey suggest that this crisis could have a long scope, affecting all areas of the economy, because farmers are less likely to make purchases and will certainly make budget cuts that could affect their local communities.”

The results of dark surveys reflected similar slowdown readings in the AG Economy Group barometer index of Purdue University, which dropped from 10 points in August to 125. A sub-index on expectations for the future dropped from 16 points to 123, the lowest since last September.

This is because the prices of cultures have plunged compared to their peak of 2022, while the production costs remain close to the record summits.

Last month, the NCGA called the Trump congress and administration to stimulate demand, in particular via higher mixtures of ethanol and increased access to the foreign market, because it sounded the alarm on an “economic crisis striking rural America”.

Meanwhile, the demand for export suffered in the business war of President Donald Trump, who has reached certain particularly hard cultures.

The American Soybean Association sent a letter to Trump last month, warning that “American soy farmers are held to a commercial and financial precipice”. With the harvest season, China did not buy American soybeans for the coming months, he added, although he was the best buyer historically.

The group said that American soy farmers could not survive an extended commercial dispute with China and urged Trump to prioritize soybeans in talks with Beijing.

But Friday, Trump mentioned nothing about agricultural exports after a call with Chinese president Xi Jinping. The prices of soy, corn and wheat all fell yesterday.

Admittedly, American farmers are expected to receive substantial aid. The Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July included around $ 66 billion in agriculture -oriented expenses. The vast majority, around 59 billion dollars, is reserved for improvements in the safety of agricultural strings, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

And Trump weighs a rescue program for farmers who would use the price income Financial time Wednesday.

The CEO of American Soybean Association, Stephen Censky, said Farm Journal Agweb Friday, the government’s assistance is “capitalized” in the longer term, which means that payments offer overall relief limited to farmers who later see rents and other costs increase too.

“It is difficult, and I can hear it in the stress of the voice of our members. Our members and our board of directors are really concerned at the moment,” said Censky, who was deputy secretary in agriculture at the Trump’s first term. “Some say that if things do not turn around, if we do not recover the markets or if we get economic aid – which is not our first choice – it could be their last year in agriculture. It is quite frightening.”

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