Bringing farm country voices to Washington

By U.S. Sen. John Boozman
R-Arkansas

The farm economy has been in tough shape in recent years and needs substantial support to turn the tide. As the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I’m committed to delivering the relief and assistance necessary to improve that outlook.

Last week, the committee held our first policy hearing of the 119th Congress. We asked several agriculture industry leaders and farmers from leading commodity associations to leave their farms and families to travel to Washington to share their experiences with us.

This hearing was the first in a series our committee will hold examining the current state of America’s rural economy from the perspective of our farmers, ranchers and rural leaders. They will help inform our decisions as we draft a new farm bill and ensure we are putting forward policies that enable current and future generations of farm families to survive, and ultimately thrive, in an unpredictable world.

Every member of the committee has heard directly from farmers in their states about the current difficult conditions they face. I’ve been blessed to join many of those conversations around the country and have taken note of the common theme.

High interest rates, elevated production costs and depressed commodity prices, coupled with a frayed safety net worn out over time, have left many producers exposed to financial ruin. Since 2022, ag producers have lost more than $50 billion and net farm income is forecast to decline. 

There is no room for error in this scenario. Farm families like Jennifer James’ are looking at the next generation and trying to determine if this career, that requires more sacrifice than many others, is viable. The Newport, Arkansas, rice farmer testified at the hearing that 2024, her 30th crop year, was unquestionably “the most difficult year financially that we have endured.”

Nathan Reed, a cotton farmer from Marianna, shared the same fears. He told our committee that, over the last few years, he has “endured steep losses due to a sharp increase in input costs and low commodity prices.” He, too, is asking whether he can continue to risk his family’s future by continuing to farm.

They are not alone. The prospect of losing untold numbers of farm families across the country if we do not act is growing rapidly.

The Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University reports that since it began projecting farm financial performance, the crop outlook for its representative farms “is the worst in terms of the number of farms in each of the four commodity types (feed grains, cotton, rice and wheat) that are not currently expected to have a positive cash flow over the next five years.” 

My highest priority for the next farm bill is to improve the farm safety net, whereby every farmer in every region of the country will have access to modernized risk management tools regardless of the commodity they grow. If we fail to modernize the safety net, agriculture will see further consolidation as farm families leave the business, and the ripple effects to our country will be profound. 

Agriculture producers across our country are counting on Congress to update these vital programs that help them stay in business feeding, clothing and fueling the world. That task is great, and the Senate Ag Committee will prioritize it until the job is finished. I am honored to lead our efforts in the weeks and months ahead and look forward to the momentum we will build as well as the progress we must make.