Crop farmers are navigating a difficult financial situation. Red ink is showing up for many farmers as they close out 2025 and secure financing for the year ahead. During an economic downturn in agriculture, comparisons are often made to the farm crisis days of the 1980s. “That’s an interesting phenomenon; it’s not the ’80s, we don’t have the leverage that we had in the eighties; we have crop insurance, which is a big difference, right?” said Lynn Paulson, senior vice president, Bell Bank. “But there are things from the ’80s that are creeping back in. In the ’80s, interest rates tripled; right now they’ve doubled. In the 1980s, we had the Soviets; now we have China. If you look in the rear-view mirror, some things are starting to creep in that are a little bit reminiscent of the ’80s.” Paulson was part of a panel discussion at the Advanced Crop Advisors Workshop in Fargo. Listen to the RRFN interview with Paulson.
