Our opinion: Uncertainty about the future is harmful to agriculture community

Farmers spend more than a little time looking to the west.

Because of wind patterns, rain typically comes from that direction.

Depending on when or how much of it comes — or doesn’t — rain can be a blessing or a curse.

Farmers can’t control it. They simply try to be aware of it. So, they scan the western horizon for any indication of what’s coming. Or not.

These days, Southeast Missouri farmers, and their counterparts around the country, are casting their gaze to the northeast, too.

That’s where Washington, D.C., is, and the folks who play a significant role in whether farmers make any money at all work there. The decisions they make will matter to farmers across the nation, including Zach Talbott of Neelyville.

Jonathon Dawe of the Daily American Republic in Poplar Bluff recently spoke with Talbott about the present and future of farming. He’s worked his family’s ground for years, the next generation to do so. He’s like many of today’s farmers — as knowledgeable of global trends and technology as he is planting techniques and equipment maintenance. One word came up repeatedly as he discussed the state of U.S. agriculture.

Uncertainty.

As farmers prepare to open the ground to plant this year’s crops and poultry and, increasingly, dairy producers wrangle with bird flu, several factors are adding to their concerns.

One, markets for U.S. agricultural products are in turmoil. A reignited trade war with China could close key markets for U.S. soybeans. Missouri is a big soybean producer, with about 5 million acres planted each year. China never has needed much of a reason to stop buying U.S. exports, including soybeans, in the first place, as trade between our nations is more necessary than embraced. Other global players — Brazil and Argentina, for example — are ready to fill that gap for China. A shift has already begun, as U.S. soybean exports to China were at a 16-year low in 2024. U.S. agricultural producers do not need any increased barriers to reaching the Chinese market. Further, the future of USAID is questionable, at best. The U.S. Agency for International Development is — was? — a soft power platform, providing food to regions around the world. The program purchased billions in U.S. commodities each year. Now, that internal market may be gone, victim of cost-cutting at the federal level. The effects of shutting it down are already evident. Rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade are down from 7% to nearly 13% through September.

Two, avian flu is advancing, not receding. More than 150 million birds have been affected in the United States, most in the West and Upper Midwest, though cases have popped up from Maine to California, Washington to Florida. In the past four months alone, more than 20 million layers have been culled. Eggs, anyone? Producers will kill many more millions of birds before we get past this, but potentially more concerning is the flu has been confirmed to be jumping species, including to humans. While there are no known cases of the flu spreading person-to-person, there are several dozen cases of humans contracting the disease from animals. One death has been attributed to it. We will need a concerted and well-executed national plan to beat bird flu and recover our animal stocks from it.

Finally, every five years, Congress is supposed to pass a new farm bill. This comprehensive legislation covers everything from trade policy to crop insurance programs. The five-year plan provides a level of security for farmers and producers. Congress is more than a year behind with a new farm bill, adding to producers’ … what’s the word? … uncertainty about the future. The most recent iterations of the farm bill have significantly changed the way farmers make their money (or not) and what level of safety net is available. It’s unclear what the next version will look like — or when it might arrive.

Zach Talbott, like his peers around the country, are ready to get to work. They want to grow their crops or raise their animals and then sell them for a fair price. They know there are no guarantees, and that’s OK. Comes with the territory.

It’s the unnecessary uncertainty — the optional angst created by people far from the soybean, rice, corn and cotton fields and chicken and poultry houses and cattle pastures of Southeast Missouri — that’s problematic.

We encourage our elected and appointed leaders in Washington to do what they can to keep markets open for U.S. agriculture producers, bring to bear all required resources to defeat and recover from bird flu and pass a new farm bill that protects our nation’s agriculture producers and helps them continue to provide a safe and abundant supply of food and fiber not only to our residents but to the entire world.