Two former Nebraska agriculture leaders have signed a bipartisan letter to Congress expressing concerns about the state of the nation’s farm economy.
The letter comes as the country sees a spike in farm bankruptcies. Nationally, 315 farms filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy in the past year, up 46% from 2024. Chapter 12 allows farmers to restructure debt while keeping livestock and other assets.
The Midwest has been disproportionately affected. One hundred and twenty one farms filed for bankruptcy in 2025, a 70% increase from 2024. Seventeen of those filings were in Nebraska, the second most behind Iowa in the 13-state region.
Nebraskans Bart Ruth and Don Hutchens are among those who signed the letter. Ruth is an eastern Nebraska farmer and past president of the American Soybean Association, while Hutchens was previously the director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.
The letter urges congressional committees to hold hearings regarding the ongoing challenges faced by America’s farmers, which include a shrinking international market and increased operating costs due to tariffs.
“Unfortunately, the indiscriminate and haphazard nature of the current tariff policies have not revitalized American manufacturing and have significantly damaged the American farm economy," the letter reads.
The U.S. is running a historic agriculture trade deficit, which has hit Nebraska farmers trying to compete in international markets. Ongoing trade wars have shrunk U.S. agriculture exports; in 2018, The U.S. exported 47% of the world’s soybeans, down to just 24% today.
Nebraska is fifth nationwide in soybeans grown.
Ruth said one focus of the letter is repealing tariffs that disrupt export markets.
“Trade is not something that happens overnight,” Ruth said. “You have to spend years building relationships and making contacts and developing trust with trading partners.”
Ruth sees the House vote as mostly symbolic since Trump is expected to veto the resolution if it passes the Senate. But he says it could help lead to a large enough majority in Congress later this year to override a veto.
The letter also points to a significant reduction of USDA staffing and research funding as another reason agriculture is hurting. The second Trump Administration has prided itself on government efficiency, which has resulted in the agency losing nearly 20% of its workforce in 2025.
“Farmers don’t want government handouts,” the letter argues, “they want markets. They want world class research so they can compete.”
The bipartisan group outlines nine paths forward to repairing the country’s ag economy, which include exempting farms from tariffs, passing a new farm bill, and restoring funding for land-grant agricultural research.
Farm debt, in the meantime, is set to balloon to its highest point ever. According to projections from the USDA, it could rise to a record $624.7 billion in 2026, while farm income is on track for its fourth straight year of decline.
(Harvest Public Media reporter Rachel Cramer contributed to this story)