Escalating Trade Tensions with China Fuel Farmer Bankruptcies and Suicides

Rising tensions between the United States and China are deepening financial and emotional strain across farm country, as growers confront falling crop prices, high operating costs and a wave of bankruptcies, according to a new report by the South China Morning Post. Arkansas farmer Randal Shelby, who borrowed more than $1 million to expand his soybean and rice operation, told the outlet he expects to declare bankruptcy within weeks as tariffs, weak prices and high interest rates erase profits. Farmers interviewed said promised Chinese soybean purchases touted by President Donald Trump fall far short of the volumes once relied upon. The United States now supplies about 25 million tons of China’s annual soybean imports, far below levels before Brazil and Argentina gained market share. Farm bankruptcies nearly doubled in the second quarter, and mental-health advocates report rising suicides. Many farmers say they are uncertain what to plant next season — or whether they can keep farming at all.

Source: NAFB