The farm economy was an overarching theme at the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention. “Most of agriculture has experienced at least two years of lost equity now, the cow/calf guys are doing great, but, overall, we’re losing equity pretty fast,” said AFBF Vice President Scott VanderWal, who also serves as the South Dakota Farm Bureau president. The bridge payments are welcome, but “it is also kind of a drop in a bucket compared to the huge losses we’ve experienced.” VanderWal sees the solution in expanded markets, both overseas and domestically. These downturns in the farm economy always bring up the specter of the 1980s farm crisis. “I lived through that, too. I came out of college in 1985 when the interest rates on our operating loan went to 21 percent the year after I graduated.” The scenario is different today, but VanderWal said the issue of profitability remains.
