Hope is not a strategy: Why American farmers need action now

Editor’s note: This post first appeared on James’ blog, Field Good Life.

As I write this post, my hope is that productive work is being done in Washington, D.C., to address the lack of support by Congressional leadership and others in Congress for row crop farmers in the form of a safety net in this country. I have just completed my 30th full-time crop. The mood in the countryside is dark and quiet. I have witnessed the quietness before, and it usually signals poor financial health and/or lack of optimism from the farm gate. During these times in the past there was hope on the horizon. Crop prices would rise, or costs subside. Maybe it was a world event that would bring prosperity to American agriculture. Well, prosperity may be too optimistic of a word to use. Maybe it was just enough to get by or just enough to stay in business. However, in my 30 crops, I have not experienced the overall pessimism and dark outlook across all crops and all areas of the country that I am witnessing now.

I feel like we are at a very unusual time in our country’s agricultural history. What once was a profession that seemingly touched every life in America has become an afterthought, a bargaining chip, a peacemaker, a trade war pawn. The fact that farmers need to explain where food comes from is surprising and also a recipe for disaster. Retired Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, a former chairman of both the House Agriculture Committee and Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, once said, “Show me a nation that cannot feed itself and I will show you a nation in chaos.” Many events are unfolding that make me feel like we could be on the verge of chaos.

The 2024 crop was planted with high input costs and the prices were barely high enough to break even. At that time, it was early in the season and the risk of selling a crop that was not even planted yet weighed on every farmer. Crop loans were being made from the information that was available at the time and margins were razor-thin, but workable. Especially with a farmer’s mentality of “something good is bound to happen.” In Arkansas, something good that happened was farmers made outstanding yields! This is always exciting information to start rolling in during harvest. We have worked hard, made difficult decisions, beaten all the odds of the weather and come out successful! Many thought the higher yields would bridge the gap from the lower prices. Prices at harvest had fallen dramatically from the break-even prices of the prior spring. The higher yields were not enough, especially when you factor in damaged soybeans and low milling rice that equated to hundreds of dollars per acre lost.

But you have insurance, right? My friends outside of agriculture are always quick to ask this question. Yes, there is insurance, but did the situation trigger any claims? No, the higher yields knocked out most chances of any insurance claim. To put crop insurance in perspective, a wise farmer once explained it to me like this. Let’s say you own three houses and have them all fully insured (something you cannot do in crop insurance, but we will ignore this fact). All three homes burned to the ground. They are all a complete loss. Absolutely nothing could be salvaged on any home. You made a claim for all three homes and the proceeds from the claim were enough to build ONE home back at HALF the size of one of the original homes. This is a great example of how much coverage crop insurance has on crop production losses.

But you have farm bill subsidies, right? Yes, we do have a farm bill that has an entire section written to cover price loss risk outside of any insurance product. The safety net within the 2018 Farm Bill, which is what we were operating under during the 2024 crop, is not adequate for today’s economy. The prices which any payment would trigger are well below the cost of production. IF the program were to trigger, I believe the farm economy would be in an even worse position than we are today. For some commodities like cotton, triggering a payment is a possibility. And many other commodities are not far behind.

As of today (12/15/2024), we do not even have a farm bill in place for 2025, even at inadequate levels. However, the Ag Committees of both chambers of Congress have been exploring and talking about the new farm bill since well before the original expiration in September of 2023. The lack of the ability for Congress to function and pass good legislation could potentially devastate rural America. Someone not directly involved in the agriculture industry may think that comment is cavalier and reckless, but there is a domino effect the lack of farmer support could have on rural America. Farming is capital-intensive. Farmers depend on the ability of banks and ag lenders to extend lines of credit to plant, tend to, and harvest crops and also to purchase equipment and maintain infrastructure to do the work. If lenders take risks to lend to farmers in the hope that a farm bill will be useful or economic aid might be sent, they could see extreme losses.

We have all heard the saying, “hope is not a strategy.” This is why farmers are hearing from their lenders that they cannot extend credit until more is known from Washington, D.C. Not only are farmers and banks wondering, but businesses that service agriculture need to know. Local folks that provide crop services, mechanics, equipment dealers, local hardware and parts stores, and the list goes on and on. These businesses rely on a healthy agriculture economy in rural areas to keep their businesses healthy, too. Not only are businesses at risk, but our entire communities are as well. If these rural towns see population decreasing, then our schools and hospitals may not have enough people to sustain them. Many folks think of “ghost towns” in a Western sense, a bygone era lost to history. Unfortunately, there are many modern ghost towns throughout rural America due to industries like agriculture dying out and the people leaving for other areas where they may find hope they wouldn’t otherwise have if they stayed. We don’t need more ghost towns, but we’re not far from it.

We need immediate action in Washington. Many farm-state Senators and Representatives are communicating that they will not support the Continuing Resolution to keep the Federal government funded and the country running without meaningful economic aid in the package for farmers. A big thanks to Congressman GT Thompson of Pennsylvania, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Senator John Boozman of Arkansas, the incoming chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, for standing strong for agriculture and being leaders. If you agree with this, reach out to your members of Congress and tell them. It certainly makes it easier if they know where their constituents stand on issues. Explain the difficulty on your farm so they have a better context from a real farmer in their state or district. We are running out of time! If this does not happen before the end of the year, we are well into 2025 before anything else might get accomplished. Farmers need to know so they can make decisions as to how to proceed or not with a 2025 crop.

Editor’s note: Jennifer James is a fourth-generation rice, soybean and corn farmer in Arkansas. The opinions expressed are those of the author.