A Farm System Built for Bailouts

Four bailouts in a year is a warning sign, not a solution.

A grain elevator on a cold morning in Wharton, Ohio

Four bailouts in about a year.

That is what the federal government has now delivered or is preparing to deliver to farmers. When an industry needs emergency rescue this often, the problem is bigger than one bad season. The system itself is not working.

The Short Timeline

<![if !supportLists]>1. <![endif]>In December 2024, Congress passed $10 billion in emergency assistance for farmers. USDA moved to get that money out in early 2025 because many farmers were already in trouble.

<![if !supportLists]>2. <![endif]>In July 2025, Congress passed a major bill that expanded farm subsidies by more than $65 billion over the next decade. This was not framed as a bailout, but it expands long-term support because the farm economy is not delivering fair prices on its own.

<![if !supportLists]>3. <![endif]>In December 2025, the federal government announced another $12 billion in aid for farmers facing trade problems and low prices. In that package, $11 billion was set aside for major row crops like corn and soybeans, and $1 billion for specialty crops and other commodities.

<![if !supportLists]>4. <![endif]>Now, lawmakers are already discussing another round of aid for January 2026. Some are floating $10 billion. Others have mentioned numbers closer to $20 billion.

Farmers do not want bailouts. In USA Today, I said the December 2025 aid was welcome and desperately needed because farmers are struggling. But repeated bailouts are a sign the underlying system is not working for farmers the way it should.

Why This Keeps Happening

We keep getting bailouts because farm policy has been shaped by powerful corporations, building an economy where everyone in the supply chain can make money except the farmer.

For decades, government policy has pushed farmers to overproduce commodity crops like corn and soybeans, mainly for export markets and livestock feed. That ties farm income to global demand and trade fights. When exports drop or tariffs hit, prices fall fast.

As a result, when so much land and investment goes into corn and soybeans, we grow less of the food Americans actually eat. That is one reason we import about $50 billion more farm and food products than we export, relying on other countries to feed us.

Consolidation makes the squeeze worse. A handful of corporations control key parts of agriculture, from seed, fertilizer, and chemicals to meatpacking, grain trading, and processing. They can raise what farmers pay and hold down what farmers earn.

When the math does not work, emergency checks become the backstop.

Where the Money Really Goes

A bailout check can keep a farm from going under. But it often does not stay on the farm for long.

Most farms run on thin margins and heavy monthly bills. When aid arrives, many farmers use it to catch up on operating loans, pay interest, and cover payments that are already due. A large share can end up flowing straight through farmers to lenders.

The same is true for inputs. Farmers have to buy seed, fertilizer, chemicals, feed, fuel, repairs, and equipment. When those costs are set by a handful of dominant corporations, farmers do not have much room to shop around. Relief money meant to help farmers can quickly end up boosting the revenues of input suppliers and other gatekeepers.

Bailouts can keep a farm alive for a season, but they do not change the pricing and power problems that caused the crisis.

What It Looks Like on the Ground

Across the country, farmers are cutting costs wherever they can. They delay equipment maintenance. They try to renegotiate land rents. Many take off-farm jobs to stay afloat.

And many are not surviving. Since 2017, the United States has lost more than 160,000 farms, which works out to about 63 farms a day.

Farm bankruptcies are rising, and more farmers fear we are headed toward a farm crisis not seen since the 1980s.

What Needs to Change

This system is working the way it was designed. More checks do not change that. They just keep it going. If we want fewer bailouts, we need to change the rules so farmers can earn a living from the market and we grow more real food here at home.

That means shifting support toward fruits, vegetables, and other foods people eat, not just feed and export crops.

It means rebuilding regional processing, storage, and distribution so farmers have more than a few buyers.

And it means breaking up the corporations that dominate seeds, fertilizer, chemicals, grain trading, and meatpacking, so they cannot keep raising farmers’ costs and holding down what farmers earn.

Relief matters right now. But without structural change, we will be back here again with the next bailout.

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