US farm with 93,000 hectares for sale: 10,000 cattle on 2 islands.
10,000 cattle, deer, bison, and a slaughterhouse in the middle of nowhere. One of the largest slaughterhouses in Alaska is located on the storm-battered Umnak Island.
Increasing Farm Bankruptcies in the US
More and more farms are going bankrupt in the United States. Current figures show that bankruptcies of family farms are expected to increase significantly by 2025.
Trump Drives Farmers to the Brink
According to the trade magazine Successful Farming, bankruptcies in American agriculture are expected to increase significantly by 2025. Experts from the data service Bloomberg Law reported that family farm bankruptcies increased by 55% last year compared to 2023. They also stated that "they will rise even further this year as farmers continue to struggle with low agricultural commodity prices and high expenses." Trump is driving farmers to the brink of collapse. Support payments are necessary, otherwise the situation for farms will become even more precarious.
US President Donald Trump Drives Farmers to the Edge of Ruin
Although much of the industry-wide crisis began before his second term in the White House, US President Donald Trump quickly pushed more farmers to the brink of ruin and put small producers in trouble, according to Bloomberg Law. The reasons cited were "unforeseeable tariffs, revisions to immigration regulations, cuts to federal programs, and frozen funds from the Department of Agriculture." A US agriculture bankruptcy attorney told "Successful Farming" that there is a lot of fear among farmers. In the first three months of 2025, 82 bankruptcy cases were filed - almost twice as many as in the same period of the previous year.
Severe Repayment Problems with Agricultural Loans in the US
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported in February that "the share of the district's agricultural loan portfolio classified as 'major' or 'serious' repayment problems was 4.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024 - the highest value since the end of 2020." The Kansas City Federal Reserve also stated at the end of March, according to the trade magazine, that "with increasing farmer debt and weakening agricultural economy, delinquency rates have slightly increased from historical lows."
Support Needed: Thousands of Layoffs in Agriculture
The situation seems to be worst in Iowa. The state leads the nation in agricultural bankruptcies. The American Farmland Owner newspaper reported that the region has been hit by thousands of layoffs in agriculture over the past two years. The main reason is the sharp decline in agricultural income. Experts, according to "Successful Farming," foresee further economic difficulties for farmers if the Trump administration and Congress do not provide support. If no additional ad-hoc support payments are introduced this year, it is expected that the number of bankruptcies will continue to rise.
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