Washington Lawmakers Push for Economic Relief for Small Farms

As farmers struggling with low crop prices and high input costs await word about potential financial assistance from the Trump administration, a group of 33 House Democrats is calling for small and specialty crop farmers not to be forgotten.

Their effort follows that of their Republican colleagues from farm states earlier this year, who pushed for the administration to provide aid to farmers by year-end, according to a Sept. 17 Reuters report.

In a letter last month to President Donald Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins, the group of 33, led by Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-3), said that the survival and viability of farmers — particularly small and medium farms, family farms, and specialty farms — is in grave danger. They cite factors such as increasing production expenses, low crop prices and declining profit margins, labor shortages as well as high land costs and limited land access.

For small and family farmers, that problem is exacerbated by limited access to credit and less bargaining power to negotiate better prices and production contracts, the group said in the letter.

From 2017 to 2022, the U.S lost more than 140,000 farms, they said. Connecticut, a specialty crop state, lost 460 farms. In New England, there has been “an alarming trend” in which 80% of farmland has been lost over the last 60 years, they added.

As of early December, the group had not received a response to their letter, a spokesperson in DeLauro’s office told The Goshen News.

According to a Dec. 2 Reuters report, Rollins said that the administration plans to announce a “bridge payment” for farmers during the week of Dec. 8. The payment would be aimed at providing short-term aid until the finalization of longer trade and aid packages, according to the report. Details about the aid including the specific amount have not yet been announced.

Rigoberto Lopez, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Connecticut, told The Goshen News that all farms in general are dealing with high import costs but that big commodity farms have been making headlines in recent months because they have been hit especially hard by a declining export market.

“But in Connecticut, especially in Connecticut, small farms have always been challenged by high costs because it is a very expensive state to produce [crops in], and it’s also highly regulated and the high cost of inputs have always been the number one issue for farmers,” he said.

Other issues compounding these problems are the effects of climate change as well as challenges in labor availability and labor cost, he said.

“Small farms have always been challenged because they don’t have the efficiency scale of big farms, but also they face challenges in terms of cost inflation,” Lopez said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) most recent data shows production costs nationwide have climbed to $467.4 billion, up $12 billion from last year. In their letter, the group said that current input price hikes are expected for seeds, chemicals, custom operations, as well as repair and maintenance and that many fertilizers have already seen sharp price hikes.

According to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, the state’s agricultural impact is “substantial,” with a total of 5,521 farms spread across 381,539 acres — each averaging about 69 acres. Agriculture accounts for about $4 billion of the state’s economy and provides about 22,000 jobs in production, processing, or agribusiness. Greenhouse and nursery products make up more than 50% of production, but the state produces a variety of products, including apples, hay, dairy products, shellfish, and tobacco.