NEW: “Iowa Farmers Form New Group as Rising Costs Squeeze Operations”
KCCI: “The Group Called ‘Iowa Farmers United by Commonsense’ Said it Was Created Out of Frustration With Policies Coming Out of Washington”
Ryan Marquardt, Madison County Farmer: “It’s Just a Very Brutal Space to Try to Make a Living in Agriculture Right Now”
DES MOINES – Frustrated Iowa farmers have come together to form “Iowa Farmers United by Commonsense,” a new group that wants a change from Iowa’s elected officials in Washington DC who are making life more difficult for farmers.
Over the last year, chaotic tariffs, stalled progress on year-round E15, dramatic cuts to the USDA, a disastrous U.S.-Argentina trade deal and $20 billion Argentinian bailout, and now the war in Iran is exacerbating a years-long economic downturn that is leaving Iowa farmers deep in the red and Iowa 50th in economic growth.
KCCI: Iowa farmers form new group as rising costs squeeze operations
- Madison County farmer Ryan Marquardt raises cattle and eggs but says it is getting harder to keep up as costs rise and prices fall.
- “Machinery is expensive. Getting parts is difficult because of the tariffs,” he said. “High diesel expenses too this year on top of all that.”
- Marquardt’s farm has been passed down from generation to generation. Now, he says the future feels far less certain.
- “It’s just a very brutal space to try to make a living in agriculture right now,” he said.
- He points to fertilizer as one example.
- “We were holding off booking our fertilizer. And then, you know, we have war in Iran, and then we see the massive spike,” he said. “We were already [on] pretty lean margins before, and this is just eating into the margins even more.”
- That kind of pressure is what pushed Marquardt and a dozen other farmers to form a new coalition. In a news release, the group called “Iowa Farmers United by Commonsense” said it was created out of frustration with policies coming out of Washington and a belief that those decisions are making it harder for farmers to stay competitive.
- Members say trade tensions, high input costs, and ongoing global instability are contributing to what they describe as a worsening farm economy.
- “If we don’t speak up now, to me, it’s just kicking the can down the road and the challenges that we’re going to face. And those challenges could become bigger if we don’t see some solution right away,” coalition member and Crawford County farmer Dave Muhlbauer said.
- For Marquardt, the bigger concern isn’t politics. It’s whether farms like his can survive for the next generation.
- “If my kids wanted to get involved in agriculture right now, that’s a really tough sell,” Marquardt said. “I’m the fifth generation. I don’t want to be the last, but I don’t know what the future holds. And it makes me nervous.”
- For now, farmers like Marquardt and Muhlbauer say they are doing what they can to keep up as conditions continue to shift around them.
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