September 19, 2025
‘Trying to Stick Around’: U.S. Farmers Fight for Survival
Already, farm bankruptcies as of July exceed those over the full year of 2024. Many forces have buffeted American agriculture. U.S. News and World Report says low commodity prices, a persistent issue for years, now come with higher costs for inputs like fertilizer and equipment. Climate change has led to deeper, longer droughts and more flooding. Trade wars aren’t helping. Tariffs on other countries’ exports to the U.S. make those products more expensive to import. Retaliations from some countries are hitting farmers directly. China, once the main customer for U.S. soybeans, has been boycotting them. Moreover, Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs make U.S. soybeans 20% pricier than their South American competitors, according to the American Soybean Association. “U.S. soybean farmers are standing at a trade and financial precipice,” said ASA President Caleb Ragland, a soybean farmer from Kentucky. “Prices continue to drop, and at the same time farmers are paying significantly more for inputs and equipment.”
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Farmer Leaders Rebuke USDA Officials Over FSA County Staffing Levels
In a press release by the National Association of Farmer Elected Committees (NAFEC), the group reports that FSA offices “are critically understaffed,” yet USDA officials have publicly denied those concerns. Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden at the Farm Progress Show in late August rejected the notion FSA offices are short on staff. Vaden said USDA would not be asking for temporary or permanent FSA staffing levels. Leaders at FSA in recent meetings have indicated staffing levels of county office employees are now under 6,000, as compared to several thousand more, just a few years ago. The word we are consistently hearing is that our county office staffs are critically understaffed, said Jim Zumbrink, President of NAFEC, and a grain and turkey farmer from Ohio. “Staff will find it very difficult to perform the complex work of managing disaster programs and ongoing programs, with the speed agriculture producers in America, both expect and desperately need.”
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Trump Tariffs Could Fund Bailout for US Farmers, Ag Secretary Tells FT
The Trump Administration is drawing up plans to use tariff revenue to fund a program to support U.S. farmers, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “There may be circumstances under which we will be very seriously looking to and announcing a package soon,” Rollins said financing the bailout with “tariff income that is now coming into America” was “absolutely a potential.” The report follows pressure from farm groups after China stopped purchases of soybeans from the U.S. in their tit-for-tat trade dispute, and as tariffs have pushed up costs for fertilizer, machinery and other imported inputs. Agriculture has emerged as a major point of contention between China and the U.S. as the superpowers are locked in a tariff war launched by President Donald Trump.
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PepsiCo, Unilever, and other Major Companies Launch “STEP up for Agriculture” Initiative
Leading retail and global food and beverage companies including PepsiCo and Unilever have announced the launch of Supporting Trusted Engagement and Partnership (STEP) up for Agriculture (STEP up for Ag), a pre-competitive initiative designed to strengthen the capacity and sustainability of farmer-facing support organizations across North America. STEP up for Agriculture, a first-of-its-kind collaboration to scale regenerative agriculture through locally tailored support systems. STEP up for Ag strengthens farmer-facing organizations by providing tools, training, and funding to accelerate adoption of sustainable practices and build resilient supply chains. The initiative supports PepsiCo’s goal to transition 10 million acres by 2030, by strengthening farmer support organizations and advisory ecosystems needed to deliver this transformation. Expansion is already underway in Europe, beginning with a pilot in Spain—marking a global push toward regenerative agriculture. The initiative’s leaders say system change requires collective action, and this initiative brings together companies, nonprofits, and farmer-led groups to drive meaningful, scalable transformation in agriculture.
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California Region Wine Grapes See 40% Decrease in Sales
The value of San Luis Obispo County, California’s agricultural industry has gone down by more than $85 million since 2023, according to the County of San Luis Obispo Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures’ new 2024 crops report. The agency released the 2024 production statistics for the local agricultural industry on Wednesday, analyzing the county’s agricultural output over the calendar year. according to new SLO County crop report. In 2024, officials say the total crop value for San Luis Obispo County was $1,015,871,000— a nearly 8% decrease from the crop value in 2023, which the agency reported as $1,103,970,000. However, the 2024 statistic marks the fourth consecutive year that the crop value exceeded $1 billion. The Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures says varied microclimates and a relatively healthy wet season allowed most crops to thrive across all growing regions. Officials add that overall production remained strong despite periods of heavy rainfall early in the year.
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Kemp Leads South America Trade Mission to Boost Agriculture and Investment
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, joined by Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper and other state officials, spent the last week of August in Brazil and Argentina meeting with business and agricultural leaders. According to Southeast Regional Ag News Kemp said the goal was to “replant a flag,” saying that he’s personally “been concerned about how much China and Russia have been playing in South America and the U.S. not so much over the last several years.” Kemp noted that South American companies have funneled more than $160 million into Georgia in the past six years, backing projects that created over a thousand jobs. Harper reminded producers why that matters: “Leveraging port systems and reducing trade barriers…are vital components of ensuring the continued success of agriculture.” According to Georgia Farm Bureau, the visit was aimed at strengthening global ties that ultimately benefit producers on both sides.
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