Row crop farmers in Arkansas are going into the planting season with mixed emotions.

The Natural State led the country in Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies last year with 33 filings.

Tyler Oxner, director of commodity activities for the Arkansas Farm Bureau, said farmers have struggled since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"Normally, the sentiment is they’re looking forward to getting their crop in the ground and getting it out and reaping the benefits of it," Oxner observed. "But over the past few years, they haven’t seen any benefits from it and so morale is definitely down. Stress is up. They’re trying to figure out in what ways can they lose the least amount of money?"

Oxner pointed out increased operating costs and declining commodity prices have made it hard for farmers to be profitable. He added they do not want a handout. They want to sell their crops at a reasonable price.

Ongoing trade disputes, tariffs, and delays in federal funding have affected farmers across the country and now, the war in Iran is increasing fuel costs. Oxner hopes as some farmers have restructured their debt, they will be able to make a profit.

"Thirty-three may not mean 33 individual farms," Oxner explained. "That could be one farm with multiple entities all filing for the Chapter 12. You can still farm after filing for Chapter 12 bankruptcy. It’s restructuring debt. It doesn’t mean that all 33 are going to be out of (a) farm."

There are more than 24,000 crop farms in the state. Oxner is concerned about the future of Arkansas farming if things do not turn around.

"In the farming industry, we continue to see it every year: The age of the average farmer continues to increase, and so, are we going to have a generational gap somewhere?" Oxner asked. "If the conditions of the industry do not improve, that's going to lead to more people that are on these family farms stepping away."

Source: Public News Service