Strong winds whipped around Doug Bartek, a fifth‑generation farmer and chairman of the Nebraska Soybean Association, as he entered his grain bin in Wahoo, Neb., to shovel soybeans onto a conveyor chute. “Our biggest struggles are our inputs, be it fertilizer, seed, chemical, parts,” Bartek said. “There has been so much drastic markup in all of these. And I just kind of feel like the farmer’s kind of painted in the corner.”
Bartek’s concerns echo those of many Midwest producers. The high cost of fuel, equipment and fertilizer—compounded by the Iran war—has squeezed profit margins. The war’s disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz halted exports of nitrogen fertilizer from the Persian Gulf, sending the price of urea soaring. “It’s hard to say if I’m gonna come out ahead or behind on this whole deal. But I suspect I’m gonna come out behind,” said Chris Gould, a corn and soybean farmer in Maple Park, Ill.
Tariffs levied by the Trump administration in April 2025 intensified the pressure. The sweeping tariffs triggered a trade war with China, the top buyer of U.S. soybeans, leading to retaliatory duties and a boycott that drove soybean prices down. “When that was announced and soybean prices basically collapsed, if you could afford to hold on to your beans and wait for better times, you were OK,” said Mike Cerny, a soybean farmer in Sharon, Wis. “If you had a mortgage due or cash‑flow needs and had to sell at that point, you were taking it pretty rough.”
Even as federal aid arrives, the damage persists. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects operating costs for soybean production to stay elevated through 2026, while land values in the Midwest have risen sharply. Joana Colussi, a research assistant professor at Purdue, notes that many farmers rent three‑quarters of their acreage, and “absentee landowners” are increasing rents to cover higher property taxes. “They have absolutely no idea what goes on on the farm,” Bartek said, adding that landlords’ higher rents add another layer of strain.
The financial strain shows in farm‑bankruptcy data. The American Farm Bureau reports a modest rise in bankruptcies in 2025, and a Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture survey of 400 farmers in late March found that 48 % say their operation is financially worse off than a year ago. “There’s a lot of what I call absentee landowners that have absolutely no idea what goes on on the farm,” said Paul Mitchell, an agricultural economist at the University of Wisconsin‑Madison, describing the liquidity crunch facing many growers.
With input costs rising, soybean prices low, and market access limited, Midwest soybean farmers face a precarious outlook. The convergence of trade policy, geopolitical conflict and energy‑price shocks is reshaping the agricultural landscape, pushing many small and mid‑size farms toward consolidation or exit.