Nick Levendofsky:
There’s very little cushion.
You mentioned the cuts that are happening, the freezes and all of those things. But those high-cost inputs are what’s really hurting right now, the seed, the chemicals, the fertilizers, the fuel that is needed. Farm equipment is extremely expensive. And bankers are not loaning out tons of money to farmers right now.
In fact, bankers are pulling back. And then you throw in the idea of more tariffs, a trade war, and then the cuts to positions at USDA just at the end of last week, crucial positions in the Farm Service Agency offices, the NRCS offices that are all over the country, these are folks who are integral to American agriculture. And those positions are now gone and people that were working in those offices have now had to pick up more of the slack.
