And Trump's tariff war is partially to blame:
Glutted grain markets have sparked a years-long price slump made worse by a trade war with top buyer China. As their revenues decline, farmers have piled on record debt -- to the tune of $427 billion. The industry’s debt-to-income ratio is the highest since the mid 1980s, when Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp organized the first Farm Aid concert.
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Wisconsin lost almost 1,200 dairy farms between 2016 and 2018, government data show.
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Farmers’ spirits may lift if U.S. negotiators can broker a favorable deal with China soon [Unlikely given the miserable record in "negotiating" this administration has amassed - no1]. For now though, they’re having to cope with soybean prices of about $9 a bushel, almost half of what they were getting in the heyday of 2012. Chicago corn futures have followed a similar path to be trading at about $3.70 from a peak of $8.49 in 2012.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-20/america-s-farmers-call-for-help-as-debts-climb-to-1980s-levels
What is to be done? Trump has tossed $8 billion in handouts to farmers to make up for their losses because of his trade war, but that has only slightly mitigated the situation plus it is really incompatible with any type of "free market" ideology Republicans pretend to have.
