U.S. crop producers face mounting financial pressure as production costs remain elevated while commodity prices have fallen to multi-year lows. This year's corn crop is projected to reach a record 16.8 billion bushels, far surpassing 2024 levels and creating an oversupply that markets struggle to absorb. Combined with uncertain trade policy, prices have declined sharply. Meanwhile, forecasts indicate costs will rise further in 2025, driven primarily by higher fertilizer prices. While all crop-growing regions feel this squeeze, some face disproportionate challenges due to varying production costs across USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) farm resource regions.
Chakravorty et al. (2025) studied this question.