Agriculture is considered Ohio's number-one industry. One out of every eight jobs in the Buckeye State is tied to the agriculture industry. As farmers prepare to harvest their crops, many are concerned they'll take a hefty hit due to tariffs and weather conditions.
The Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Ty Higgins, said the rainy, then hot weather, took its toll on many of the state's crops. But he said tariffs are also impacting farmers, especially those who grow soybeans.
"China has not bought anything from U.S. farmers this year and it wasn't long ago that a third of the soybeans we grew here in Ohio went directly to China so there's a lot of market share that we are missing."
Higgins said when China was purchasing from the U.S., corn was around $7 to $8 a bushel and soybeans were $14 to $16 per bushel. Now, he said the price of corn is a little less than $4, and soybeans are a little less than $10 per bushel.
Higgins said it is also costing farmers more for the supplies, which are often imported, that they need to produce their crops.
"Everything that has gone into producing corn and soybean crops successfully has gone up by at least two-fold, and so farmers are trying to pencil that out, but sometimes, that's a pretty difficult thing to do."
How farmers are handling this situation
Higgins said Ohio farmers are trying to figure out how to proceed right now.
鈥淔armers have to figure out if they want to sell it at a lower price or if they have storage on their farm, store it for a brighter day.鈥�
Higgins said there is some help out there for farmers facing difficult times. Higgins noted the "Big Beautiful Bill" signed into law recently. He said crop insurance programs have been beefed up, safety net programs that are more substantial than they were in the 2018 farm bill, and conservation programs have been emphasized. He said that has helped offset some of the costs.
Higgins said some farmers in other states are having a better year because of the commodities they produce. But Ohio corn, soybeans, and wheat farmers are likely to sustain another loss this year. Higgins said some farmers might try to change crops in the future to attempt to offset possible losses.
Higgins said farmers have not been given subsidies to offset the tariffs, but he said farmers don't want to have to rely on government intervention anyway. He said farmers are willing to ride through some pain to try to achieve the end goal of a fairer trade system. But he said some farmers are operating so close to the margins that they might not be able to make those sacrifices much longer. Higgins said, "I don't know if they are going to hang it up, but they are going to hang on as long as they possibly can."
