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Monday, August 17th, 2020

More Farmers Declare Bankruptcy

Author:     Victoria Campisi
Source:     Food Institute Focus
Publication Date:     Aug. 11, 2020
 Link: More Farmers Declare Bankruptcy
Stephan:   When most nonrural Americans think about bankruptcies they think about shops they go to, or restaurants where they eat. But there is another set of bankruptcies that are going to have a very personal impact on how they live at home -- farm bankruptcies. The people who grow our food between Trump's ghastly tariff food wars and the Covid pandemic are going bankrupt at a rate not seen in decades. Even when they are not going bankrupt, because of Trump's racist immigration policies, they are having a hard time hiring the men and women they need to work in their fields. My wife grows most of the non-protein foods we eat, but when I go into the market for something I notice that lettuce is $3-4 a head, with Romaine being most expensive. It will probably be $5-6 a head this winter. If you make $15 to $25 an hour, how do you spend $30-40 a week on lettuce so your kids can eat salads? And if they don't how do they stay healthy?

Bankrupt farmMore farmers are declaring bankruptcy despite record levels of federal aid, reported The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 6).

About 580 farmers filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection in the 12-month period ended June 30, according to federal data—8% more than a year earlier.

In 2019, farm bankruptcies were up, reported FB.org. Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies increased by nearly 20% from the previous year, according to data from U.S. courts. Looking at figures from over the past decade, the 20% increase follows only 2010, the year following the Great Recession when Chapter 12 bankruptcies rose 33%.

With slightly more than 2 million farms in the U.S., the 2019 bankruptcy data reveals a bankruptcy rate of approximately 2.95 bankruptcies per 10,000 farms, just below the rate of 2.99 filings per 10,000 farms in 2011.

However, bankruptcies slowed slightly in the first half of 2020, partly due to an infusion of federal aid and hurdles to filing during the pandemic, according to agricultural economists and attorneys. In April, The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump announced a $19 billion […]

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1 Comment

  1. Albus Eddie on Monday, August 17, 2020 at 5:29 am

    It used to be, when I was a young man, that Republican Senate and House members from rural areas would fight for farmers. I don’t hear a word from them now.