In an opinion editorial for the Des Moines Register second-year corn and soybean farmer Sarah Tweeten explores the pressures US farmers currently face including price drops, cost increases for equipment and inputs like fertilizer, trade uncertainty, debt, and the shutdown.
She notes, “it has been a roller coaster year for agriculture, and this volatility makes it difficult to plan for the future. The situation is especially challenging for young farmers like me, who are just starting out, since many of us have less access to capital, higher borrowing costs, and lower levels of land ownership than more established producers, which would help us ride out any impending storms.”
She points to some interesting opportunities to increase efficiency such as new technologies like drought-tolerant seeds, field-mapping, and even satellites. She explains how research and development in agricultural innovation benefits the US economy to the tune of a $20 return for every $1 in public funding. However, she also flags that “public investments in agricultural R&D have been shrinking for years, and this decline has been exacerbated by recent cuts to international research programs that have direct benefits for U.S. farmers. For example, numerous innovation labs based at land-grant universities across the country, formerly funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future Initiative, have had to close their doors. While there has been some discussion about reopening them, their future remains uncertain. These labs had been conducting research on a wide range of issues to benefit both U.S. farmers and those abroad, on everything from improved varieties of soybeans and wheat, to livestock health, to solutions against crop pests and diseases.”
Read the full opinion editorial here to learn more.
Image: David Weaver harvests soybeans from a field near Rippey, Sept. 25, 2025. Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register
-WHES
