%{{tag.tag}} {{articledata.title}} {{moment(articledata.cdate)}} @{{articledata.company.replace(" ","")}} comment The number of %Bankruptcies among U.S. farms is on the rise and the situation is expected to get worse over the next year. According to the latest monthly survey, 62% of agriculture economists in the U.S. think America’s farm economy is currently in a recession, and 85% think the situation will accelerate bankruptcies and consolidation among farms and agribusinesses. At the same time, Bloomberg Law reports that family farm bankruptcies rose by 55% in 2024 from 2023, and there are signs that bankruptcies are trending higher this year. Farmers across the U.S. are struggling with depressed prices and high input costs, plus the impacts of tariffs imposed by the world’s top buyers of American crops, notably China. Unpredictable tariffs, immigration overhauls, and federal program cuts have left farmers in a precarious financial situation and in need of help, say agriculture analysts and economists. Bloomberg Law notes that farm bankruptcies in America are now at their highest level since 2019, which was the height of the previous Trump administration’s trade war with China. Court records shows that farm bankruptcies in 2024 rose to 216, up 55% from a near 20-year low of 139 in 2023. Court filings show that bankruptcies are accelerating, with 82 recorded in this year’s first quarter, which was before Trump’s tariffs were announced and nearly double the figure in Q1 2024. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the number of farm loans at risk of defaulting is now at its highest level since 2020 at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The potential default rate on farm loans has many of America’s largest banks concerned, with some naming farm loan delinquencies as a future risk to their financial results. Beyond tariffs, farmers in America are struggling with reduced prices for crops such as corn and soybeans, as well as a slowdown in the global economy that is hurting demand for agriculture.