This Crisis Does Not End on the Farm

By Keely Ana Dillon

Louisiana Farm Bureau News

The American farm economy is in crisis, and farmers need immediate supplemental economic assistance to stay afloat.

Louisiana Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation worked over the weekend to ensure a final government funding deal did not leave agriculture behind. Congressional leaders floated the idea of a clean Continuing Resolution with a simple Farm Bill extension. Agricultural advocates responded with a clear message: “No. We won’t be left out this time.”

The current Farm Bill, passed in 2018, no longer reflects the realities of today’s farm landscape. Over the past six years, farms have undergone significant changes, while safety nets have become outdated and input costs have risen. Consequently, the Farm Bill is no longer providing the support farmers need.

“Over the past few months, we’ve said the same thing in a number of ways,” Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation (LFBF) President Richard Fontenot said. “But now, it boils down to one week to make a meaningful investment into rural Louisiana and Louisiana agriculture.”

As an organization, LFBF has sent nearly 4,000 messages to Congress, emphasizing the agricultural crisis and urging representatives to stand up for rural Louisiana.

“Cotton is the last hope that I have to turn a profit,” Kody Beavers, Northeast Louisiana Cotton and Grain Farmer said. “It's a tough thing when you've got a good crop, but you can't make any money off of it. It's just a tough pill to swallow.”

Beavers’ story represents the grim reality faced by farmers across the country.

Brandon Johnson, a third-generation grain farmer in Northeast Louisiana, knows this struggle all too well.

“I’ve always known that I was going to farm,” Johnson said. “My dad farmed, his dad farmed, and I loved it. I was out here every day, but it gets to the point of, ‘Yeah, I love it, but can I feed and provide for my family by doing it?’”

American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Daniel Munch reported a $25 billion decline in the farm economy from 2023 to 2024, and farmers across the country have felt the weight of every penny.

“You would not risk the amount of money that we put into these crops to get the return that we hope to make, but haven’t made for the last three years,” Johnson said.

LFBF Director of Commodity and Public Policy Andy Brown has worked tirelessly to advocate for farmers on both the local and national levels, and said he has no intention of stopping any time soon.

“Although it seemed like agriculture might be a casualty of partisan politics, our efforts and the greater voice of agriculture in Washington, D.C. have made an impact,” Brown said. “As we monitor those things and look forward to what's to come, know that we're actively working as your Farm Bureau to seek a deal that includes economic assistance for agriculture.”

If reference prices don’t rise to match input costs in 2024 and 2025, it will be devastating for farmers everywhere, including Michael Costello, a cotton and grain farmer in Northeast Louisiana.

“One thing about it that does not change is if we don't get this Farm Bill set up and quit kicking this can down the road, it's going to be detrimental,” Costello said. “There are a lot of people hanging on by a thread.”

This crisis does not end on the farm. Agriculture is the backbone of the U.S. economy.

“This is just one of many examples of why punting on a Farm Bill, or extending a Farm Bill, is not working,” Brown said. “The casualties of that are our young farmers who are struggling to make it. If they don't have risk protection tools, they can't stay on the farm, they can't provide food, and food security is at risk.”

Food security is a matter of national security, and it is currently in jeopardy.

“Without farmers, people wouldn't have money to spend at the grocery stores, go out to eat, or keep people employed with money rolling in the community,” Franklin Parish Cotton and Grain Farmer Brett Fletcher said. “It’s the whole community’s concern that the farm makes it.”

Everything starts at the farm, and without the farmer, there is no small-town economy. When farms thrive, the community does too; but when farms struggle, the effects are felt throughout the entire community.

“If you take the farm away, then everything is going to go,” Costello said. “The trucks that you see on the road hauling grain, the elevators, infrastructure and mills that process all this stuff, the jobs that people have that touch a finger to any of this all depend on what we do on the farm.”

If farmers can’t farm, the need for vendors to sell to them or people to work for them is eliminated as well.

“We’re very thankful for the leadership that’s amplifying our message,” Fontenot said. “We, as the voice of Louisiana agriculture, will continue to impress on our delegation that a government funding deal that ignores agriculture is not a deal worth doing.”

The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation would like everyone to take action and call their representative in Congress and urge them to support the need for immediate supplemental economic assistance for farmers.

“We need you to be ready,” said Brown. “Not days nor weeks in advance. We need you to be ready to act now. Pick up the phone and call your representatives. Let them know that this is make or break in the last week of the 118th Congress.”

Brown and his team are working continuously to monitor the progress and provide up to date information. Join LFBF and its efforts and click here to sign up for Voter Voice. The time is now to tell Congress to support Louisiana agriculture. =