Trump Did That!

Axios:

The big picture: Mark Mueller — a northeast Iowa farmer and president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association — tells Axios that the current landscape is tougher than at any time since the 1980s farm crisis, when interest rates soared and exports plunged, triggering agricultural bank failures.

Bankruptcies are rising. Lenders are becoming more reluctant to loan to farmers.

"There's going to be fewer farmers next year than this year," Mueller says. Farmers are grappling with a confluence of forces:

🔌 Skyrocketing energy prices triggered by the Iran war. Diesel is up 60% from last year.
🌾 Spiking fertilizer prices and shortages after Iran blocked shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. 70% of farmers say they can't afford the fertilizer they need.
🇨🇳 Disrupted export markets tied to President Trump's tariffs and Chinese import restrictions.
💧 Global drought and other weather pressures.
🌽 The crisis is hitting farmers hard across the country:

In Arkansas, energy and fertilizer costs are way up even as farmers are selling their crops for less.
In Ohio, first-generation farmer Michael Kilpatrick said his fuel bills are up from $400 to $700, and container costs have risen 30%.
In Iowa, farmers are dealing with a decline in soybean prices from $13-$15 to around $10 per bushel, as exports to China have fallen due to trade tensions.
In Minnesota, calls to the state's farm and rural issues mental health helpline are climbing.
For consumers, the crisis is especially noticeable with beef.

The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level in decades, largely due to global drought.

But the Strait will open soon, and then everything will be fine.

At least, things will start to get better after we rein in, and then replace, the worst and most dangerously incompetent Administration in history.