Alejandro Plastina, assistant professor, and Chad Hart, associate professor, were interviewed for a November 15 Des Moines Register story, "ISU report: Iowa farm finances continue to erode, with 44% of growers struggling to cover costs."
"It's very, very concerning," said Alejandro Plastina, the ISU agriculture economist who conducted the study. "It’s getting harder and harder for farm operations to cash-flow their business."
"There's been a lot of damage done to farmers' finances over the past several years," said Chad Hart, an ISU agriculture economist. "And while things have gotten a little better, they haven't gotten better enough to prevent some significant financial problems."
This story also covered by Money - MSN.com
Hart was also quoted in a November 19th Fox News story, "Future of family farms bleak in Midwest as bankruptcies increase."
Economists like Chad Hart, a professor of economics at Iowa State University, attributes the increase in farm bankruptcies to a market that’s oversaturated with goods. This means that farm income is down. Hart says when you combine that with the historic flooding season the Midwest had this past year and the ongoing trade disputes, it has created the perfect storm.
"This isn't the end as we know it," he said. "Things will get better but it will take some time for some farms to recover financially and until we see some of that recovery, we'll likely see more farmers having to make alternative choices.