Across Arkansas, farmers are raising a desperate cry for help, asking the federal government for immediate aid as their livelihoods collapse under the weight of a spiraling farm crisis.
This year has felt like one long storm with no break in sight. Prices for crops have plunged, the global market has turned sour, and inflation has sent fertilizer and fuel costs soaring. Add in damaging weather earlier this year, and many family farms, some with histories stretching back a century, are now staring down bankruptcy.
“Just last year, rice was bringing in about 40 percent more than it is today. Since then, everything has gone up, inputs, fertilizer, you name it, while prices keep sinking,” said Derek Haigwood, who farms in Independence and Jackson counties. “Last year was already brutal. Farmers across the Delta lost money. This year is shaping up to be worse.”
The farm bill signed by President Trump promised stronger safety-net subsidies, but those payments will not arrive until late next year. By then, analysts warn, as many as one in four, maybe even one in three, Arkansas farmers could be gone.
Some have already made the heartbreaking decision to step away. “I am a sixth-generation farmer from Newport. We called it quits this spring,” one man admitted. “That means my son will not carry on as the seventh generation. The line ends here.”
The emotional toll is staggering. “In just 14 months, I have lost five customers to suicide,” said another Arkansas farmer who also works in agricultural financing. “That is how devastating this situation has become.”
On Tuesday, farmers gathered in Brookland to share their struggles face-to-face with staffers from Arkansas’ congressional delegation. Their request was simple but urgent: persuade Washington and the governor to secure emergency funding to carry them through to next season.
“We need ad hoc payments right now. If we do not get them, there is no way through this year,” Haigwood said.
“If nothing changes, one out of every three farmers in Arkansas will be filing bankruptcy before the year is over,” added Chris King of Woodruff County.
This time, at least, their words did not seem to fall flat. “We hear you,” said Gene Higginbotham, district director for Congressman Rick Crawford. “We will take this message back to Washington and do everything we can to get you the help you need.”
For now, though, Arkansas farmers are left with little more than hope and prayer to keep their land and their legacy alive, according to katv.
