A joint letter was sent Jan. 15 to the U.S. Congress, by 56 farm groups, on the “economic crisis in rural America,” demanding action. [The letter]( https://www.fb.org/files/1.15.26-Ag-Letter-to-Congress-Economic-Assistance_FINAL.pdf) was directed to the Republican and Democratic leadership of the Senate and House.
The letter expresses thanks for the $12 billion to be distributed this month under the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program, but stresses that these funds “do not cover the extensive and cumulative losses that farmers have absorbed over the last several years.”
President Donald Trump then made a visit to Iowa the following week, holding a rally in Clive Jan. 27, praising how great the economy is doing, and that farmers should hang on, because things will get better after the FBA money. He called for more biofuels, and implored for action to win the midterm elections. However, both the Trump Administration and Democrats’ policies are based on continuing the same so-called “free” market model of monopolies, behind the current crisis.
On Feb. 3 a second alarm was sounded in a [joint letter]( https://energy.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/former-farm-letter.pdf) to Congress by farm leaders of all backgrounds, including former U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, titled, “Former Agriculture Leaders Warn of Farm Economy in Crisis, Call on Congress to Act and Engage with Farmers.” Reviewing the crisis, it stated, “There are few tragedies greater than the loss of a family farm, representing not just a loss of livelihood but a loss of a way of life for rural families,” the leaders wrote. “And when American farmers suffer, the entire rural economy is impacted – from schools, to churches, to main street businesses.”
