‘We could lose the whole farm’: How rural America is fighting to stay afloat as Trump’s trade war grinds on
Farmers around the country, grappling with rising debt, dismal commodity prices and the fallout of the trade wars, face a similar fate as the Krocaks of Minnesota, who have taken drastic steps as bankruptcy looms.
Story by Annie Gowen
MONTGOMERY, Minn. — The feed chopper was the only machine Bob Krocak ever bought new, back when he was starting out as an ambitious young dairy farmer.
He used it to chop acres of alfalfa and corn to feed his herd of Holstein dairy cattle, which repaid him with some of the creamiest milk in Le Sueur County. The chopper and its fearsome blades lasted through four decades of cold winters, muddy springs and grueling harvests.
Now, on a chilly Saturday morning, Krocak, 64, was standing next to the chopper in the parking lot of Fahey Sales Auctioneers and Appraisers, trying to sell what he had always prized. The 128 Holsteins were already gone, sold last year when his family quit the dairy business after three unprofitable years.
Krocak needed the money to stave off bankruptcy and hold on to the land that has been in his family since 1888. Hundreds of other farmers around the country, grappling with rising debt, dismal commodity prices and the fallout of the Trump administration’s trade wars, are facing the same fate. Net farm income has dropped by nearly half in the past five years, from $123 billion to $63 billion.
Farmer Randy Matthews approached and looked over the battered feed chopper and a rusty baler next to it. He was not impressed.
“It has a brand new chain on it,” Krocak said hopefully.
“You won’t get much for that,” Matthews predicted.
The auctioneer ran through dozens of machines before he started the bidding for Krocak’s chopper at $100. His bid call — “I hear 100, 100 . Now, can I hear 125?” echoed on the loudspeaker, the sound of treasured items slipping away.
Krocak bought the chopper for $6,700 in 1977. It sold for $150.
“It’s the price of scrap metal, the wheels alone are worth that,” he lamented to his wife, Liz.
The proceeds would barely make a dent in the $47,000 they owe the local bank, the $550,000 they owe businesses in town and the $662,000 mortgage on their property — which all adds up to about $1.3 million in debt.
After the final gavel, Krocak gently touched the chopper’s gear shaft with his darkened hands, gnarled as ginger bulbs.
“You’ve been good,” he told the machine.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/farm-bankruptcies-rise-as-trumps-trade-war-grinds-on/?utm_term=.9787a1cd202a
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