DAILY Bites
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Sen. Boozman urges Congress to swiftly provide emergency economic assistance to help producers recover and secure funding for 2025.
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Farmers nationwide face an estimated $29 billion in losses for 2024, driven by high input costs, rising interest rates, and low commodity prices.
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Established and beginning farmers alike are at risk of losing their operations without immediate federal support, warns Boozman.
DAILY Discussion
U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, has urged Congress to take swift action to support agricultural producers grappling with significant market losses. Speaking on the Senate floor on Monday, Boozman painted a stark picture of the challenges facing rural America, emphasizing the severe economic strain caused by soaring input costs, high interest rates, and low commodity prices.
“For some producers, this is the second or third consecutive year of negative cash flow,” Boozman noted. “This means many farm families are ending 2024 in the red, unable to pay off this year’s operating loan, unable to get the loan to farm in 2025, and face the reality of being the generation to have lost the family farm.”
Boozman shared staggering statistics, highlighting projected losses exceeding $29 billion for row crop farmers nationwide by the end of 2024. This includes an estimated $11 billion for corn growers, $5.7 billion for soybean producers, and $5 billion for wheat farmers. Other commodities, such as cotton, sorghum, rice, and peanuts, face average losses of over $200 per acre, compounding the financial challenges.
The senator described conversations with farmers and industry groups who have expressed growing desperation. He said that an Arkansas farmer shared that, despite achieving his best crop yield ever, low commodity prices had left him underwater. Such stories underscore the grim reality that even high production cannot compensate for unfavorable market conditions.
Farm organizations have also sounded alarms. Nathan Reed, President of the Agriculture Council of Arkansas, described the current environment as “virtually impossible to net anything but a significant loss regardless of crop, yield, or safety net coverage.”
Boozman called for immediate federal intervention to provide economic assistance to farmers for 2024 and bolster safety nets for 2025. He stressed the need for Congress to act before year’s end, emphasizing that producers require certainty to secure loans for the upcoming crop year.
“If Congress does not act appropriately, I worry many of these producers may not be around next year,” Boozman warned.
With agriculture forming a cornerstone of the nation’s economy and heritage, Boozman argued that supporting farmers is essential to preserving the country’s food security and economic stability. “Our producers grow an abundant and affordable supply of food and fiber. They must have the tools they need to manage this extremely difficult market,” he concluded.
