Mississippi Farmers Are Getting Squeezed From Every Direction

Agriculture is one of Mississippi's biggest industries, and soybeans are the crown jewel — worth over $1 billion a year to the state. But farmers have had a rough stretch, and the road ahead is complicated.

In 2025, China — the world's largest soybean buyer — didn't start purchasing until late fall because of Trump's trade war tariffs, leaving farmers in limbo. This year, China has committed to buying around 25 million tons, which has stabilized the market. Mississippi State ag economist Will Maples says producers are "way ahead of where we were this time last year."

High costs are still eating into profits. Fuel and fertilizer prices have climbed due to the ongoing war with Iran, and input costs remain the number one concern from farmers. Duane Dunlap, an agriculture consultant, says growers still aren't where they need to be to turn a real profit.

Mississippi lawmakers tried to help during this year's legislative session — passing a bill that removes sales tax on lime used in farming and cuts taxes on livestock fencing — but global forces are harder to legislate away.

Mississippi farmers aren't alone. American agriculture is facing one of its most challenging periods in a generation, with rising input costs, falling commodity prices, and growing regulatory uncertainty converging at the same time. Only about half of farmers expected to be profitable last year, while farm bankruptcies have risen roughly 60 percent year over year. Commodity prices for key crops have declined as much as 58 percent since 2022 — even as more than half of farmers report rising costs for labor, inputs, and other essentials.  

The Iran war has made everything worse. Fertilizer prices have surged due to shipping disruptions, rippling across U.S. agriculture just as spring planting got underway. For one North Carolina farmer, fertilizer and nitrogen costs jumped from $139 per acre last year to $217 this season. A Farm Bureau survey from April found that 70 percent of farmers couldn't afford to purchase all the fertilizer they needed for planting. The squeeze is nationwide — and there's no clear end in sight.