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Farm leader warns USDA report hits farmer confidence as commodity prices fall

The president of the Illinois Farm Bureau says farmers across the country are reeling from this week’s USDA report.

“It was not a good day to be a producer.”

Speaking to Brownfield from the American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Anaheim, Phillip Nelson says a dramatic shock to the corn market is not what farmers needed.

“The whole tariff plan that’s being proposed for the end of February (Farmer Bridge Assistance Program) was all eroded in the marketplace, and producers recognized that.”  He says, “It really impacted, I think, the psyche of farmers here.”

The USDA increased corn harvested acres and yield, sending prices tumbling.  Nelson tells Brownfield…

“But at the same time, we’ve seen that reset on commodity prices, we haven’t witnessed that reset on our input costs.”  He says, “Some of those are four times higher than they were a couple of decades ago.”

Nelson says the market drop tightens the financial squeeze weighing on farmers as they make plans and budgets for the 2026 growing season.

AUDIO: Phillip Nelson – Illinois Farm Bureau