Small American Farmers Are Facing Their Extinction Due To A Number Of Factors

Jan 20, 2020 by apost team

Independent farms are facing a crisis like no other in the history of the United States. When one thinks about farming, one imagines thousands of family-owned farms crisscrossing the rural terrain of America’s Heartland.

The unfortunate reality is that family farming is on the verge of vanishing in the United States. The years between 2011 and 2018 were among the worst on record for family farming in American history. Those 7 difficult years saw 100,000 farms close, with 12,000 of them in 2017 and 2018 alone.

Last year was also immensely difficult for small farmers. In the Midwest, Chapter 12 bankruptcies were up 12 percent. The Northwest was hit even worse with an uptick of 50 percent of farms declaring Chapter 12. Knowing that bankruptcy will not help them, countless farmers have simply stopped working altogether.

The crisis has been fueled by multiple sources. In addition to the trade war with China, environmental problems spurred on by climate change are making things more difficult for farmers. Political discord, competition from corporate farming, and declining food prices are also adding to the calamity facing independent farmers, Time mentions in a recent article.

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In a new exposé of the crisis, Time recently spoke to the Rieckmann family of Fremont, Wisconsin. The farm is run by 79-year-old Mary and her husband, 80-year-old John. Mary and John’s family have been taking care of their small patch of land for nearly two centuries, but the rugged family of farmers has never faced such a threat in their storied history. Speaking with reporters, Mary says that their farm is about $300,000 in debt as bill collectors surround them like sharks in a feeding frenzy.

The family adds that they currently make $16 for every 100 pounds of milk they produce. This is a 40 percent decline from milk prices 6 years ago. Often times, the family must use the entirety of their income from milk to pay the monthly mortgage, leaving them to rely on credit for equipment and feed for their 45 cows. While Mary and John once dreamed of leaving the farm to their 7 children, all they think about now is just keeping afloat from week to week.

The Rieckmanns are not the only independent farmers burdened by heavy debt. Farm debt is at an all time high of $416 billion. With farm loan delinquencies rising, more than 50 percent of farmers have lost money every year since 2013. This debt has led some farmers to commit suicide. Losing their business is especially hard for farmers as they lose both their livelihood and their homes.

Like the Rieckmanns, Randy Roecker is a Wisconsin dairy farmer burdened with debt. Randy explained to Time that when family farms fail, it is a tragedy of mammoth proportions. Randy points out that most farmers who face foreclosure have difficulty coping with the idea that they are losing pieces of land that their great-grandparents worked on centuries ago. Randy’s neighbor, Leon Statz, was one such farmer. After being forced to sell all of his cows to alleviate his debt, Leon committed suicide. Randy admits to struggling with depression as gets deeper and deeper in debt. The elderly farmer estimates that he loses about $30,000 each month.

While the crisis independent farmers face is a tragedy in and of itself, analysts say that its effects could have far-reaching consequences well into the future. Particularly, these individuals say that losing private farms will permanently change the rural landscape of America, forever altering our country.

What do you think of the crisis facing independent farmers in the American Heartland? What steps do you think the federal government should take to ease the burden on the farming community? Pass this story on to your friends on social media to help raise awareness of this issue.