President Donald Trump’s war against Iran has already hit Americans at the gas pump, but farmers told Axios that a potentially more devastating impact is still coming – and soon.
“There’s going to be fewer farmers next year than this year,” said Mark Mueller, an Iowa farmer and president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, speaking with Axios for its report published on Saturday.
Trump’s Feb. 28 authorization of the U.S. war against Iran prompted the Middle East nation to immediately close traffic for U.S.-aligned vessels to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil historically flowed. While the subsequent rise in fuel costs has impacted farmers greatly, so too has the disruption to fertilizer trade, more than 20% of which moves through the strait.
“Mark Mueller tells Axios that the current landscape is tougher than at any time since the 1980s farm crisis, when interest rates soared and exports plunged, triggering agricultural bank failures,” Axios’ report reads. “Bankruptcies are rising. Lenders are becoming more reluctant to loan to farmers. Farmers are grappling with a confluence of forces.”
A recent survey of nearly 6,000 American farmers from every state found that an “overwhelming majority” were unable to purchase enough fertilizer to “get them through the year.” Furthermore, a report on the survey’s findings concluded that nearly 8 in 10 farmers in the Southern United States were unable to afford all needed supplies this year, sparking concern about food availability in the coming year.
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