American farmers are struggling under a “crisis” brought on by President Donald Trump’s trade war, wrote Bloomberg reporters Steven Church and Ilena Peng on Wednesday, one that has left a number of small farmers on the brink of bankruptcy.
“Now we are seeing farmers run out of liquid cash after trying to ‘just make it to next year’ several years in a row,” said Ryan Loy, assistant professor at the University of Arkansas and agricultural economist, speaking with Bloomberg.
According to data analyzed by Bloomberg, 173 small farms have filed for bankruptcy in 2025, a more than 63% increase when compared to small farm bankruptcies in 2024, and the highest number since 2020.
Among the leading factors in farmers’ financial struggles has been Trump’s trade war, more specifically, its impact on U.S.-China trade. Prior to Trump’s second term, the average U.S. tariff imposed on Chinese imports was around 16%. However, Trump would soon impose tariffs on China as high as 145%, though he eventually reduced them to their current rate of around 30%.
As a result, many small farmers have been hurt by reduced exports to China, particularly corn, pork and soybean producers, with American farmers previously leading Chinese imports for those products. Now, Brazil leads in exports to China on corn, pork and soybeans.
“We’ve had three years of tough sledding here where breakevens are at or below cost,” said Land O’Lakes Inc. COO Brett Bruggeman, speaking with Bloomberg.
The reduced sales on exports have led to farm debt exploding, reaching a record high of $561.8 billion this year, per the Department of Agriculture.
“Once you lose a customer it’s awful hard to get them back,” said Joseph Peiffer of the law firm AG & Business Legal Strategies, speaking with Bloomberg.
Trump is still embroiled in negotiations with foreign leaders on tariffs, imposing new rates by the day. On Wednesday, Trump wrote in a social media post that tariffs would be lowered for countries that agree to lower their own tariffs on U.S. imports.