Farmers say prices for crops like corn and soybeans are low, and rising operating costs are narrowing down profits.
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Straight Arrow News
It was a tough year for Heath Donor’s family farm.
Located on the northeastern corner of Arkansas in Mississippi County, approximately 3,300 acres of land managed by the donor and his father produce cotton, corn, soy and peanuts.
Donors had already anticipated the challenges headed for the year amid growing operating costs and declining crop prices. Historic floods in the first half of 2025 have exacerbated the problem by wiping 25% of his corn yield.
The donor, a fifth-generation farmer, is not used to the ups and downs of business, but he said farmers have been hit particularly hard this year. One trade group calls it the economic crisis that hit rural America.
“I’ve been doing this for my lifetime and it’s as dark as I remember,” the 44-year-old donor told USA Today.
Headwinds for farmers in 2025
Challenges for donors and corn and soybean producers have been linked to the abundant harvests of recent years, lowering product prices.
The USDA expects record-breaking yields on soybeans this year, with prices falling by around 40% from its latest peak in 2022. Regarding corn, prices have fallen by about 50%, with USDA expecting record production this year.
Meanwhile, the National Corn Growers Association reports that production costs, including the costs of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and machinery, remain near record highs.
“The aperture is real from both sides of the equation,” said Brian Duncan, an Illinois farmer and president of the Illinois Farm Bureau.
The National Association of Corn Growers calls it “an economic crisis struck in rural America,” pointing to the third year in a row where farmers are facing a growing negative profit margin.
NCGA chief economist Christa Swanson said the trade group is worried that it will exacerbate the situation by increasing import costs and urging retaliatory actions from countries purchasing US corn.
Already, according to the American Soybean Association, China, which imports around 60% of the world’s soybean supplies, has refused to book soybean purchases from the 2025 harvest of its US suppliers and is heading to Brazil instead.
“The more autumn comes without a soy agreement with China on soybeans, the worse the impact on our soybean farmers will be,” the ASA said in an August letter to President Donald Trump. “US soy farmers cannot survive long-term trade disputes with their biggest clients.”
Farm prices are limited to retail prices, but raw materials, which make up a small portion of grocery store sticker prices, could have ripple effects on the wider economy as farmers struggle cuts spending.
The Arkansas-based farm donor said farm machinery is easier to use than during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now “no one has the money to buy.” Donors have put off purchasing new equipment over the past few years.
“When farmers are profitable and the farm economy is strong, we see that there is a ripple effect through the rural economy,” said Swanson of the NCGA. But “they cut back on those things during difficult times.”
Support along the way?
A recent Federal Reserve survey suggests farmers are feeling a squeeze. Farm revenue and credit conditions are weakening, but demand for funding is increasing.
“I am particularly concerned about people who may not have the fairness to return to ride another unprofitable year,” Duncan said, adding that younger farmers tend to be at greater risk. “I don’t want to lose another generation of farmers, like I did in the ’80s.”
The Trump administration has announced more than $60 billion in grants to farmers over the next decade of its recent tax and spending packages. However, that support will not begin until the fall of 2026, and farmers like donors worry it will be too late.
“What I’m hearing from creditors is that I don’t want to wait until October (2026) to get that money, so I don’t know what it will look like in 13 months,” the donor said. “We need a bridge of sorts.
During the trade war with China during Trump’s first term, Trump granted a relief payment of about $28 billion to compensate farmers for losses. Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins told CNN in April that the administration is ready to deploy similar relief in its second term.
“The prayer is that it doesn’t have to happen, but second, if it’s done in the short term, like Trump 1, we’re prepared for it,” Rollins said.
In the meantime, trade groups have called on the Trump administration to come to help farmers.
In August, the NCGA asked officials to remove trade barriers, implement new transactions and address higher input costs. The month also asked Trump to prioritize soybeans in trade negotiations and work to eliminate China’s retaliation obligations in the United States.
Previously, Trump was a true social and urged China to “quickly absorb soy orders” but the timing of the new agreement could take several months, with trade negotiations being extended until November.
The President also implemented agreements from other countries, including Indonesia, to strengthen agricultural imports in the negotiations.
“There are many other countries in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Mexico, and we want to increase livestock production primarily in the poultry sector. And soybeans are one of the key factors for that. “So, where you’re seeing a large population growth and income rise, you’ll generally see good demand for soybeans to support that protein sector.”
David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University, said that establishing a new export market is not an easy feat, and it is not yet clear that handshake agreements with various countries will be compared to China’s purchasing power, especially as Trump’s use of tariffs has been challenged in court.
“In a country like China, it’s much easier for farmers to find new suppliers than it would be to find new export markets. There are many people who are very interested,” Ortega said.
In the meantime, Duncan says he’s waiting to see what lifelines are available to help farmers do that next fall.
“We are looking for a real, real rise in demand,” Duncan said. “There’s a crop that we’ve got to go somewhere.”
