The Zipline: Farmers need Congress to do its job

Every day, rain or shine, farmers rise to do their jobs. Whether we’re tired or stressed, we press on. If we disagree with a family member, we find a way forward.

We don’t stall on planting or harvesting or caring for our animals. We are committed to doing our jobs in all seasons because we know our families and yours are counting on us.

So, it’s beyond me — and most farmers I talk to — how Congress can sit on a critical job like passing a farm bill. In the meantime, farmers are now facing an economic downturn.

We cannot afford for Congress to put off doing its job because Americans are counting on farmers to do ours.

The latest numbers from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s farm income forecast show a 23% drop in net farm income since 2022.

How many people, how many families, could withstand losing a quarter of their income in two years? If these same numbers were reflected in the overall economy, we would have heard talk of a recession already.

What we’re seeing in the farm economy isn’t just a hiccup, it’s evidence of an agricultural recession. I’ve heard from all our farmers and ranchers across the country that they are struggling.

The latest USDA Census of Agriculture painted a concerning picture of the farm economy landscape. We lost more than 140,000 farms in a five-year time span as of 2022, and even in a season when net farm income was higher, more than half of farms were not making a profit.

Farmers and ranchers are facing inflation just like every other American family, but we also face the impact of severe weather, plummeting crop prices and constant changes in regulatory requirements.

Add to that sky-high labor costs, interest rates and property taxes, which are all at record levels in terms of dollar value. It’s no wonder that more farmers are finding it challenging to remain economically sustainable.

In the meantime, the current farm safety net is so out of date that it won’t even trigger for many family farms with this continued drop in income.

The current farm programs were written before the pandemic, before major supply chain disruptions and global conflict and before inflation and interest rates spiked.

Our farmers need help, and they need it now. Congress has been kicking the can down the road when it comes to the farm bill for two years.

It’s been more than 100 days since the House Agriculture Committee passed a good bipartisan farm bill, but there hasn’t been any action in either chamber since.

We need Congress to put politics aside and do its job. Legislators have done it in the past, and they can do it now.

It’s time to get the work done. Farmers need a new, modernized farm bill, and we cannot afford for Congress to fail us now.