The tight margins so many row crop producers have been navigating for the past few years aren’t expected to ease quickly. Half of the economists surveyed in Farm Journal’s June Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor believe it could take another three to five years before crop farmers return to broadly profitable margins. Adding to the pressure, a new National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) study comparing 2023-2025 input costs found U.S. corn growers paid an average of 68% more for seed than Brazilian farmers, 87% more for insecticides and more than double for some fungicides and herbicides, even after adjusting for taxes and currency differences.

The USDA has stepped up support to help producers weather the gap, with roughly $44.3 billion in direct farm program payments projected this year and an additional $11.1 billion in supplemental aid requested by the Trump administration to help cover rising fuel and fertilizer costs. Some economists caution that this level of government support should be viewed only as a bridge, with a need for a more sustainable solution to address the underlying cost and pricing pressures facing farmers. The NCGA has also outlined a longer-term demand strategy targeting marine fuel, sustainable aviation fuel and biobased products, aimed at building new markets that could help move the industry back toward sustainable profitability.

Read more economist commentary in this AgWeb article.