Farmers were surveyed in the fall of 2024 on their concerns of consolidation within the fertilizer, crop protection, seed, and machinery sectors. Results suggest that farmers are concerned that consolidation at the manufacturing and retail levels will lead to higher input prices and reduce the customer service received. Concerns didn’t vary significantly across the different input sectors but concerns were greater that consolidation will increase prices than reduce customer service.

As cash flows from the farm operation become tighter, it is necessary to find other funds to help pay for asset purchases or delay asset purchases, and to repay debt. Unless crop price prospects improve, it would be difficult for the case farm to purchase assets, such as machinery and equipment, later this year. Working capital will be drawn down to meet term debt obligations under one of the three crop price scenarios examined, even if the farm does not purchase machinery and equipment in 2026.

Results from the Gardner Food and Agricultural Policy Survey show that issues surrounding affordability, and in particular food prices, may play an important role in the upcoming midterm elections. Results underscore that both cost of living and the economy more broadly are top issues for respondents and that the majority of respondents believe politicians can help reduce food prices. As November inches closer, we expect grocery bills to become central to the midterm election discussions.

Tariffs have now been a topic of US debate for nearly 10 years. The debate has many compartments, but assistance for US manufacturing has been a consistent theme. This article proposes that parallels exist between the creation of a US farm safety net and the current debate, suggesting tariffs could be emerging as the cornerstone of a US manufacturing safety net.

Average per acre returns to soybean production have exceeded those for corn production in 10 out of the 13 crop years from 2013 to 2025. The opposite was true over…

The US has entered one of its reoccurring eras of concern over concentrated markets and what economists call monopoly pricing. Three intertwined lessons from the long history of market concentration and monopoly pricing in public policy and economic thought are discussed: (1) monopoly pricing depends on barriers to market entry not number and size of firms, (2) entry barriers come in many forms, and (3) reducing monopoly pricing can lead to higher prices and less production.