I am hoping to get some information that will help. In the last few years prices for farm commodities have fallen dramatically. At the end of 1998, one half of the nation's farm families did not have enough farm income to pay their annual expenses. North Dakota's farm income was down 90 percent from last year. Nebraska's was down 40 percent.
Statistics are similar in South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.
Currently a glut of hogs has destroyed any chance of hog farmers turning a profit. Grain prices are low again, and cattle operations have been facing hard times as well. The value of farm land and other assets have plummeted, leaving farmers less equity to rely upon when incomes don't meet costs, and forcing many to foreclose or sell out. William Heffernan, a sociologist from the University of Missouri, told participants the current crisis is the result of the food system becoming highly concentrated in the hands of a few large corporations, which allows for greater manipulation of prices, and more influence over government policies and regulations. International politics and economic markets have also contributed to the situation.