Farm loan delinquencies highest in 9 years as prices slump

The nation’s farmers are struggling to pay back loans after years of low crop prices and export markets hit by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, with a key government program showing the highest default rate in at least nine years.

Many agricultural loans come due around Jan. 1, in part to give producers enough time to sell crops and livestock and to give them more flexibility in timing interest payments for tax filing purposes.

“It is beginning to become a serious situation nationwide at least in the grain crops — those that produce corn, soybeans, wheat,” said Allen Featherstone, head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University.

When Trump imposed tariffs, China retaliated by stopping soybean purchases, closing the biggest U.S. market. While trade negotiations with China continue, many farmers fear it will take years for markets to recover. “The tariffs Trump is messing around with are not helpful at all — I don’t think anybody knows the true effect,” said Steve Morris, who farms near Hugoton in southwest Kansas.

https://www.apnews.com/7881b72df9aa41c28900acba09558e5e