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Not a golden age: ag economists warn of financial pressure on farmers

Can farmers survive in the current ag economy?

Joe Outlaw with Texas A&M University says it’s getting more difficult.

“There’s more people saying I can’t do this anymore.”

He says it’s a terrible time to borrow money, interest rates and input costs remain high.

“I have a lot of farmers calling me, telling me the first words out of their mouths are, I’ve decided to cut back. As we talk more and more, it’s not that they’ve decided to cut back, it’s because their lender has decided they weren’t eligible for the size of the operating note they needed to farm those acres. So, the lender is helping them decide to cut back.

Bart Fischer, also with Texas A&M University, told attendees at the Abner Womack Conference we’re not in the golden age of agriculture, but it could be around the corner.

Outlaw and Fischer were part of the Abner Womack Conference in mid-Missouri.