Farm Bankruptcies Jump 46 Percent as Midwest Families Bear the Worst of It
Farm bankruptcies across the United States rose 46 percent last year. Three hundred fifteen families filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy, the section of the bankruptcy code created specifically for family farmers and fishermen. The Midwest saw the sharpest regional increase at 70 percent.
KWCH in Wichita reported on the surge, interviewing Kansas Farm Bureau board member Steven McCloud about the financial and emotional toll spreading through farming communities. The data confirms what farmers across Kansas already know. The economics of running a family farm have gotten worse, and the stress is showing up in ways that go beyond the balance sheet.
"Farmer suicides are up. Thousands of farms are closing, rural hospitals closing, rural economies decimated, small businesses hurt by tariffs," Murray said. "These are all actions that the president of the United States is choosing to take. None of them are smart. None of them are good for the American people. Many of them are not constitutional."
What Is Pushing Kansas Farms into Bankruptcy
Farm debt in the United States hit a record $624 billion this year, according to United States Department of Agriculture data. Kansas is one of the largest agricultural states in the country, ranking first nationally in wheat production and among the top states for cattle, sorghum, and soybeans. That scale of production means Kansas farming families absorb a disproportionate share of the financial pressure when commodity prices drop or input costs climb.
McCloud told KWCH that the stress comes from things farmers cannot control. Commodity prices are set by global markets. Fuel costs have risen. Fertilizer prices, while down from their 2022 peak, remain above historical averages. Weather events including droughts and the wildfires that burned hundreds of thousands of acres across Kansas and Oklahoma this year have wiped out livestock and fencing. A family operation can do everything right in terms of management and planning and still come out behind because of circumstances no individual farmer can influence.
Tariffs have added uncertainty on top of these pressures. Kansas agriculture depends on export markets, particularly for wheat and beef. When the federal government imposes tariffs on trading partners, retaliatory tariffs often follow on American agricultural products. Kansas soybean farmers experienced this during the 2018 and 2019 trade disputes with China, when export volumes dropped and prices fell. The current round of tariff policy is creating the same kind of anxiety across multiple commodity sectors.