Farm Bureau to President and Congress: Farmers are at a Breaking Point

The American Farm Bureau Federation today sent letters to President Donald Trump and Congressional leaders to emphasize the severe economic pressures facing America’s farmers and ranchers. Falling crop prices, skyrocketing expenses and trade disputes are creating conditions that are too much for farm families to bear.

“Across the country, farms are disappearing as families close the gates on the farms tended by their parents, grandparents and generations before them,” wrote AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Every farm lost takes with it generations of knowledge, community leadership and the heartbeat of local economies: fewer kids in schools, fewer trucks at the grain elevator, fewer small businesses that keep rural towns alive. As those farms disappear, so too does America’s food independence: our ability to feed ourselves without relying on foreign supply chains.”

Prices paid for crops have fallen off a cliff since 2022, and U.S. agriculture has experienced a trade deficit during the same time period. Lingering questions with trade partners, particularly China, have added to volatility in farm country and left farmers with uncertainty about their futures.

“In the short term, we urge leaders to authorize bridge payments for farmers before the end of 2025,” wrote Duvall. “These payments must be robust enough to address sector-wide gaps and provide meaningful support as the federal government works to recalibrate trade strategies, stabilize prices, and strengthen key market relationships.”

While emergency aid will help temporarily ease the burden facing farmers, only long-term solutions will improve economic conditions in rural America.

Farm Bureau renewed its call for several priorities, including:

• Fair and enforceable trade agreements;
• Policy on biofuels, including year-round sales of E15;
• Restoration of whole milk in schools;
• Protecting interstate commerce;
• Investigating prices for major agricultural supplies;
• Enforcing laws and regulations that protect competition, fairness and transparency; and
• Prioritizing American-grown fruits and vegetables in federal and institutional purchasing programs.

“Federal leadership can now prevent a deepening crisis by taking steps to preserve our agricultural infrastructure and ensure the next generation of farmers and ranchers can continue feeding the world.”

Read the letter to President Trump here.

Read the letter to Congress here.