Tag: family farmers

Midwest farmers face crisis of mounting debt, bankruptcies

Vol. 84/No. 40 - October 12, 2020
Nebraska hog farmer Jim Bartling feared he would have to euthanize pigs like fellow farmers when packinghouse bosses shut plants in April. More farmers are filing for bankruptcy today.

LINCOLN, Neb. — Rising debts and plummeting incomes are forcing more farmers to file for bankruptcy, despite the likelihood that federal payments supposedly to compensate farmers will hit record levels. About 580 farmers filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection in…

Iowa storm deepens social crisis facing family farmers

Vol. 84/No. 35 - September 7, 2020
Grain silos in Linn County smashed by powerful Aug. 10 windstorm that battered Iowa. Government has left farmers, workers on their own, turning natural disaster into a social crisis.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — With little warning, a severe windstorm tore through the Midwest Aug. 10 destroying homes and farmland. But the devastation it left was turned into a social disaster by state and federal governments, whose one message to…