Arkansas agriculture producers recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to urge Congress to pass a strong farmer-focused farm bill before the end of this year. I was grateful to meet with the men and women who feed and clothe the world, especially during such a busy time as harvesting season. Their visits clearly articulated the anxiety gripping farmers across country at this crucial moment.
For the past few months, voices from across the industry—farmers, their advocacy organizations and the agricultural banking sector—have all warned of an impending crisis in rural America as a result of consecutive years of losses. The financial stress borne, particularly, by our row crop farmers is now evident.
In order to support these operations Congress must respond, or there will be fewer farmers next year.
Producers are struggling to make ends meet in an environment where costs for farm inputs have ballooned from inflation, interest rates have doubled and market prices are far below the cost of production. The outdated farm safety net they are operating under is doing nothing to address these realities.
Congress must provide emergency assistance to address the economic losses that farmers are facing associated with the 2024 crop.
While many farmers are realizing record yields, they are still not breaking even. This is not a crisis they can produce, insure or conserve their way out of.
We’ve seen previous ad-hoc assistance programs established in a period of weeks, as demonstrated by then Secretary Perdue when the COVID-19 pandemic created disruptions for producers. That level of timely and urgent response by Congress and the administration is once again warranted.
