Iowa farm income tumbled 53% from 2022 to 2024, squeezed by record-high input costs, depressed corn and soybean prices and continued trade uncertainty, a new report shows.
The pain is likely to continue through 2027, even with federal government assistance — about $30 billion to U.S. farmers last year and $45 billion this year — helping farmers stay afloat, according to the report from Iowa State University, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and the Iowa Bankers Association.
The farm bureau released the report at a daylong economic summit in Ankeny on Friday, July 17. Former U.S. Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer and Gregg Doud, CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation and former chief agricultural negotiator in the U.S. Trade Representative Office, were among the speakers.
“This isn’t the 1980s Farm Crisis, but the pressure is mounting… and the effect will be felt across the broader Iowa economy,” said Christopher Pudenz, the farm bureau’s economist, who presented the report along with ISU economists Chad Hart and John Crespi.
In June, President Donald Trump told Congress that U.S. farmers will need an additional $11 billion to help them survive market and trade losses despite a $13 billion aid allocation earlier this year. The $11 billion is not included in the study’s tally of $45 billion in farm assistance this year, which includes direct aid, crop insurance supports and conservation payments.
Brent Johnson, the Iowa Farm Bureau board president, said the proposed bailout doesn’t solve the problems farmers face. It will “lengthen the financial runway, but it’s not a good, long-term solution,” Johnson said in an interview.
Iowa and U.S. farmers need increased domestic and global demand, he said.
Trump’s ongoing trade war has slashed farm exports, most significantly to China, the world’s largest soybean buyer. Iowa is the nation’s largest corn, pork and egg producer, and the second-largest producer of soybeans.
Johnson, who farms in northwest Iowa’s Calhoun County, said farmers have been willing to endure some pain for trade gains. “But our ability to sustain pain is strongly diminished because of the length of this,” he said, adding, “We need a win.”
Here’s what to know about the ISU-Farm Bureau study.
19% of Iowa large, mid-sized farms are ‘financially vulnerable’
The report showed 19% of mid-size and large Iowa farms were considered financially vulnerable in December 2025, more than double the 7.7% identified in 2022, the authors said.
So far, though, the proportion of vulnerable farms remains lower than from 2015 to 2019, the last long-term farm downturn.
Last year, U.S. farm bankruptcies spiked 46% to 315, and in Iowa, they more than doubled to 18.
A University of Missouri estimate shows Iowa farm income climbed 60% last year, boosted by government payments and strong returns on livestock, but “this is followed by forecasted consecutive decreases in 2026 and 2027,” the report said. “Farmers are weathering the downturn for now, but should the current situation persist or worsen, the negative economic effects will be felt throughout rural communities and Iowa’s broader economy.”
“This is eerily reminiscent of what we went through 10 years ago” in the 2015-2019 downturn, Hart said. “The question is: How long does it take us to get farm income back up again?”
Iowa corn growers have paid 37% more for supplies since 2021
Hart said Iowa farmers should work hard to cut production costs that have spiked 37% since 2021 for corn producers and 36% for soybean growers. The largest increases were tied to machinery expenses and seed, chemicals and fertilizer, the report said.
“There are a lot of antitrust issues out there,” said Johnson, the Iowa Farm Bureau president. “Our costs are artificially high.”
The report said the 53% farm income decline “has not triggered a collapse on the scale of the 1980s farm crisis, but the steady tightening is straining Iowa farm businesses and the industries and rural communities tied to them.”
Stable farmland values have helped support Iowa farmers
Farming in Iowa, along with industries tied to ag, contributed on average $51.5 billion annually — or 19% of the state’s economy — from 2020 to 2024, the report said.
“On average, one job in Iowa’s agricultural-related industries supported a total of 1.65 jobs” in the state’s broader economy, the report said.
Steady farmland values have bolstered the ag economy, including supporting farmers’ ability to borrow money for their operations, though last year, Iowa farmland values inched up less than 1% to an average of $11,549 per acre, ISU reported in its annual farmland survey.
Forty percent of participants in the ISU survey said they expect values to decline over the next year, while 82% see values climbing over five years.
“If land values further soften, farm operations with a lot of debt or farms relying on land equity to support operating credit could face greater financial pressure,” the group said.
Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa farm income fell 53% over three years, new ISU report says
Reporting by Donnelle Eller, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Donnelle Eller, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
