small farms

More farmers are opting to repair old tractors, combines and other machinery instead of buying new upgrades. A tough farm economy and historically-high equipment prices are at least partly to blame.

When Congress allowed Affordable Care Act tax credits to lapse, healthcare premiums spiked for millions of Americans — especially self-employed farmers and ranchers. That added cost is multiplying the stress on their already stretched balance sheets.

At issue is 122 miles of railroad track called the Towner Line that shortens the number of miles agricultural products must travel to go west from western Kansas and eastern Colorado, the lawsuit said.

Corn and soybean growers have seen several years of low commodity prices and increased costs for supplies like fertilizer and fuel. That has many farmers worried about whether they'll turn a profit this year and drawn some comparisons to a dark time in American agriculture.

In the heart of Colorado wheat country, only about half the typical precipitation has fallen this year, forcing farmers to make hard choices

Oklahoma soybean farmers are navigating a cascade of financial pressures: trade war fallout that cut China's soybean purchases by 78%, fertilizer prices driven up by tariffs and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, and fuel costs up more than 50%. Government assistance has helped, but margins remain deeply negative.

Farm aid promised last December is still months away from being paid out to fruit and vegetable growers. But industry groups say it won't be enough to get them through tough market conditions.

Farmers across the central U.S. have navigated a myriad of challenges this year, including low crop prices and federal funding cuts.

The federal funding package to reopen the government included a one-year extension of certain 2018 Farm Bill programs. Several expired Sept. 30 or would have been null by the end of the year.

Some Midwestern soybean farmers are selling their beans to be crushed and turned into soybean meal and oil. But economists say domestic processing won't be enough to offset the drop in Chinese demand.