Farmers across the Midwest are contending with overlapping economic pressures, according to reporting by Lee Enterprises and The Associated Press, which interviewed experts and soybean producers across multiple states. The outlets described how tariffs and the war in the Middle East have compounded longer-running strain from rising costs and low soybean prices. They also reported that a ceasefire deal announced April 7 provided some optimism that shipping delays through the Strait of Hormuz could ease, even as uncertainty about the agreement remained.
A key driver of the problem for soybean producers is the combination of depressed market prices and rising expenses. The report said soybeans—used for livestock feed, food and biofuels—are among the top U.S. agricultural exports, but prices have been persistently low in recent years as the global market has been awash in soybeans. Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University, said global soybean production has continued to “set record, after record, after record,” adding that large supplies globally have led to depressed prices.
Against that backdrop, the report said farmers’ costs have crept up over time. It cited the U.S. Department of Agriculture in saying that overall farm production expenses, including seed and pesticide, have increased. The outlets also said the USDA reported that operating costs for soybean production have stayed elevated since 2020 and that those costs are projected to increase again in 2026.
Land costs are another pressure point described in the reporting. Joana Colussi, a research assistant professor in the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University, told the outlets that Midwest crop land values have increased and that many regional farmers rent the land they farm. With land rents tied to those values, producers face higher fixed costs even when commodity prices do not rise.
The report also said tariffs levied by the Trump administration in 2025 and the ensuing trade war with China worsened the situation for soybean growers. It described how China responded with retaliatory tariffs and effectively boycotted U.S. soybeans, cutting off a major export market and driving soybean prices even lower. The outlets said the U.S. and China eventually reached a deal in late 2025 under which Beijing committed to buying 12 million metric tons of soybeans by January and at least 25 million metric tons annually for the next three years.
Still, the reporting said much of the damage from the trade war has already been done. While China’s renewed purchases and a $12 billion temporary aid package rolled out by the Trump administration in December have helped, experts and farmers told the outlets that the assistance is not sufficient to recover losses. The report said that even after federal payments, farmers still lost almost $75 per harvested acre of soybeans in the 2025 crop, citing the American Soybean Association. It added that the trade war pushed China toward competing soybean exporters such as Brazil, accelerating a trend of declining U.S. exports to China.
The outlets also pointed to the competitive effects of the trade war on global market share. Joseph Glauber, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture between 2008 and 2014, said global competitors to U.S. soybean farmers gained during the trade war and that the U.S. is not as dominant in the global soybean export market as it used to be.
Beyond trade policy, the reporting said the Iran war has driven up farmers’ costs through disruptions to fertilizer supply and higher energy prices. After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the report said shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed sharply, sending the price of oil soaring. It also said the disruption largely stopped the export of nitrogen fertilizers manufactured in the Persian Gulf and limited access to key fertilizer ingredients, with the price of urea rising sharply.
The report noted that soybeans do not require nitrogen fertilizer, but many soybean farmers also grow corn and urea is vital for corn production. It said about half of global urea comes from the Middle East and cited the American Farm Bureau Federation in naming Qatar and Saudi Arabia among the top sources of U.S. fertilizer imports.
While the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire described as including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the reporting said traffic remained slowed amid disagreements over Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and urea prices stayed elevated. It added that many Midwest farmers bought their fertilizer ahead of the spring planting season, but some producers who did not buy early faced higher prices.
The report also said energy costs became an added burden. It described how the war caused gasoline and diesel prices to surge, creating further headaches for farmers who rely on fuel for equipment and field work. Oil prices dropped after the ceasefire announcement, but the outlets reported that the war and closure of the strait would have lasting impacts, citing Seth Goldstein, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar. Goldstein said Middle East facilities critical for exporting chemicals, oil and other commodities were damaged or destroyed and that it will take time for supply chains to recover.