The National Farmers Union (NFU) has issued a powerful call to the Trump Administration and Congressional leadership to immediately deliver economic assistance to family farms and ranches facing deteriorating financial conditions. In letters distributed today, NFU President Rob Larew urged authorities to prioritize assistance for farms under the greatest stress and address deeper structural challenges across agricultural markets.

"Input costs are projected to reach record levels in 2025. Stress levels are high among farmers, reflected in the rising number of farm bankruptcy filings across the country," Larew wrote. The NFU outlined three core principles that must guide relief efforts:

• Targeted aid for family farms, with fair geographic and commodity balance

• Investigations and action against monopolistic practices that stifle fair markets

• Investment in new and expanded domestic and regional markets for U.S. crops

A Sector Under Siege: Low Prices, Vanishing Markets, and Shrinking Farms

The letter arrives amid a long-term decline in U.S. farm numbers-more than 140,000 farms disappeared between 2017 and 2022-a trend that continues as smaller operations are squeezed out of the system. The NFU warns that collapse in export demand, especially from China, has put American producers in peril. Chinese buyers have notably not imported U.S. soybeans this year, shutting off a major outlet for one of the country's top commodities and further weakening rural economies.

At the same time, commodity prices remain depressed, while input costs for seed, fertilizer, fuel, and labor all surge. The squeeze is compounded by corporate concentration in seed, chemical, machinery, and processing markets-with limited competition and thin margins for independent producers.

NFU insists that relief cannot be a temporary patchwork. The union's proposals call for structural reforms to curb consolidation, empower farmers, and rebuild robust domestic and regional supply chains. Specific priorities include:

• Antitrust and monopoly investigations into agricultural mergers and consolidation

• Support for local and regional market development, such as cooperative processing, shorter supply chains, and value-added opportunities

• A commitment that aid programs be equitable across regions and commodity types, avoiding the exclusion of smaller or specialty producers

Such reforms would align with key policy debates tied to the farm bill, crop insurance, and USDA's oversight of market practices.

With input costs at all-time highs, low commodity revenues, and shrinking export markets, many family farms are finding survival impossible. The NFU's appeal emphasizes that agricultural relief must not be broad and unfocused-it must be strategically directed, combined with systemic change, and implemented quickly to prevent further losses of farms across rural America.

Whether the Trump Administration and Congress respond decisively will shape the stability and future viability of U.S. agriculture in this volatile era.