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Rising input costs push U.S. farmers toward financial crisis, ag leaders warn

The Farmers for Free Trade Executive Director says input costs have been one of the major challenges preventing farmers from breaking even this year.

Brian Kuehl says his group is halfway through a 14-state Midwest tour with farmers.

“I think it’s really important that everyone hear very clearly that America is already in a farm crisis,” he emphasizes. “We’ve heard from dozens and dozens of farmers whose cost of production is greater than the price of soybeans, or corn, or wheat. Farmers are not having a good year.”

Kuehl tells Brownfield the recent joint effort between the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Justice to find input antitrust violations is good for farmers, but rising costs have been ongoing since the first Trump administration.

“Everything from tractor parts to farm chemicals, to the steel and aluminum that go into grain bins, those that are imported products, or they contain imported products, and that means tariffs drive up the cost of inputs,” he says.

Recent analysis by the National Corn Growers Association estimates the total cost to grow corn, including both operating costs and overhead costs, has roughly doubled since 2007, while prices have declined by eight percent.   

NCGA says the average cost to grow an acre of corn has increased 23 percent from 2021, and more than 30 percent from 2018. The average farm price expected for corn this year is only 14 percent higher than in 2018.

Kuehl says being more strategic about how tariffs are used and reducing those in place on ag-related products could help reduce the input cost burden impacting farmers.

Kuehl gave his comments during a Farmers for Free Trade event Tuesday in Michigan.