Farmer sentiment heading into the midterm elections is being shaped by rising input costs, trade uncertainty and growing concerns about the future of rural communities, according to a new poll of Farm Journal readers.
More than half of the farmers surveyed say federal policies have negatively impacted their operations over the past year. And as input prices, including diesel and fertilizer, continue to climb, one Ohio farmer says these expenses, and the strain they’re shaving on his farm, haven’t been this bad since the 1980s.
Input Costs Continue to Climb
In the recent poll of nearly 1,000 farmers and ranchers, input costs ranked as the top concern among the farmers surveyed, with fertilizer, fuel and machinery expenses all contributing to tighter margins.
Fred Yoder of Plain City, Ohio, says when you break it down between the three, fuel costs are particularly burdensome this season.
“They’re all important this year, but unfortunately right now fuel is really costing us about $1,500 of cash per day to run two tractors,” Yoder says. “That’s a lot.”
He says while diesel prices are causing the biggest concern today, fertilizer prices have also risen dramatically over the course of his farming career.
“I’ve spent many years buying potash for $90 a ton, and now it’s $670 to $700 a ton,” Yoder says. “The same potash, but it’s just a different time.”
Machinery repair costs have become another challenge, he says, because many replacement parts are imported and subject to tariffs and duties.
“A lot of those machinery repair items are made overseas and so they’re subject to tariffs and duties,” Yoder says. “It’s really kind of a perfect storm. You combine all that with inflation. We can blame the administration, we can blame the world economy, we can blame a lot of things, but they are all coming together at once.”
Yoder calls the current environment the toughest he has seen in decades, as the perfect storm of rising input prices are hammering farm operations across the country.
“It’s just ridiculous,” he says. “I’ve never seen anything this bad since the 1980s.”
Young Farmers Feeling the Pressure
Yoder says conditions have worsened over the past year, especially after many farmers delayed fertilizer purchases in hopes prices would decline.
“Why we didn’t book our fertilizer last fall for this year is because we thought it was going to go down,” Yoder says. “Instead we sat around and we booked it for a much higher price this spring.”
He says younger farmers are under increasing financial stress as margins tighten.
“I see a lot of our young farmers that are just struggling,” Yoder says. “We’ve had more dispersal sales planned for this coming year than I’ve seen since the 1980s. And that’s really unfortunate because that’s our future and we have to make sure that they have a way to survive.”
Trade Uncertainty Weighs on Farmers
While input costs are also a concern this year for Kristin Duncanson of Mapleton, Minn., she says uncertainty surrounding tariffs and trade policy are both weighing heavily on producers and contributing to broader economic concerns across rural America.
“It would be easy for me to say that it’s just trade and tariffs and the lack of knowing exactly what’s going to happen when, but that kind of leads into the overall economy,” Duncanson says. “The price of our inputs is high. And I also have huge concerns about the slowing of the ag economy on rural communities. The implications are pretty great. And I’ve not in my 40 years, granted it’s only 40, seen a situation like this.”
Fewer Ag Voices in Washington
The Farm Journal poll also found nearly 74% of producers believe elected officials do not fully understand the realities farmers are facing.
Duncanson says agriculture still has advocates in Washington, but fewer lawmakers have direct ties to farming communities.
“Fred and I both spend a fair amount of time working with elected officials, and there are just fewer champions for us,” Duncanson says. “The members don’t have that much of an ag base anymore. And if they do, they are very caught in a real dilemma between the economy and doing things for the greater economy and really focusing on ag.”
She says agriculture is still being heard, but by a smaller group of policymakers.
“I’m not going to say we aren’t listened to,” Duncanson says. “There’s just fewer people that listen to us.”
Yoder agrees and says the shrinking farm population has also changed public perception of agriculture.
“In my own community, we have so much lesser number of farmers,” Yoder says. “People are asking me, ‘Well, you got your planting done?’ or ‘Groceries are high, so you must be making lots of money.’ But unfortunately, it’s not true.”
He says consumers often do not realize how little producers receive compared to retail food prices.
“You take even beef, the amount you pay in the store compared to what the actual producer gets could be half,” Yoder says. “Everybody adds their cost to it.”
Yoder says farmers no longer receive the same level of understanding and support they once did.
“We’re fewer in numbers,” he says. “We’re still very efficient. But we just don’t have the perception that agriculture or farmers are hurting.”
Healthcare and Tariffs Could Shape Votes
About one in four farmers surveyed say they are open to changing how they vote in the midterms depending on the issues at stake.
Duncanson says healthcare access remains one of the biggest concerns for rural communities.
“I think a big one for us is healthcare, not just the cost, but the accessibility,” Duncanson says. “We’ve seen several rural hospitals and clinics in our area close. It’s tough to attract folks or keep folks out here when there’s not a good healthcare system.”
She says the issue ties directly back to the broader rural economy.
“Those services have closed because of healthcare costs and reimbursement rates, as well as just people not being out here or our ability to attract doctors,” she says.
Duncanson also says renewable fuels and trade policy remain important issues for farmers heading into the election season.
“Just where people are on moving and getting creative of other things we can do with ag products and where we can sell them are also important,” she says. “Trade is a big thing still. NAFTA is up for renewal soon. We’ll all watch those things.”
Yoder says tariffs continue to dominate conversations among Ohio farmers.
“The majority has got a very, very hard line against tariffs,” Yoder says. “We hate tariffs. We want markets, and we want market-oriented programs.”
He says farmers also need policies that encourage innovation and reduce risk.
“There’s a real reason why farmers are raising mainly corn and soybeans because there’s the least risk in there,” Yoder says. “We’ve got to come up with ways that farmers cannot have such a risky time but maybe find a new alternative, a new corn, a new soybean or something to replace some of these things and maybe some of the input costs that we’re having now.”
What else did the new poll reveal? You can read the full results here.
