A meeting of farmers in Brookland, Arkansas last week sounded less like a routine check-in and more like a last-chance plea. Facing skyrocketing input costs, tumbling crop prices, and back-to-back years of losses, hundreds of farmers gathered to tell congressional staffers they are at the breaking point.
"This time last year, the rice price was about 40 percent higher than it is now," farmer Derek Haigwood said, speaking to KATV-TV. "Inputs costs have gone up, fertilizer has gone up, commodity prices have gotten worse. So, after a horrible year last year where most farmers in Arkansas, Delta, lost money, this year is going to be worse."
