Apr 29, 2026
It's the start of planting season across the U.S., but farmers are more concerned about their bottomline.
Increased operating costs, including elevated fuel and fertilizer costs, have made turning a profit more difficult. Times are so tough, some farmers in Minnesota are deciding instead to lease their land for money.
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"The neighbor will pay me $300 an acre and I can just take the year off," Steve Zenk, a Minnesota Department of Agriculture representative, told the local CBS News affiliate (1).
It's basic math. Minnesota farmers are spending $900 per acre to plant corn, Zenk said. But they're only seeing an $800 return per acre. Even cattle farmers are thinking twice about raising cows and investing in feed lots, amid higher prices.
A spokesperson for The Minnesota Department of Agriculture told Moneywise the anecdotal evidence is particularly true of older farmers.
"Overall, it is a small percentage of farmers who are choosing to rent out their land rather than farm it, but we believe it more than usual," the agency said in an email, adding that we could see this becoming a bigger trend if input costs stay high.
Rising costs for farmers
The circumstance Minnesota farmers find themselves in paints a small picture of a much larger problem for US agriculture. Costs are too high. They have been for some time, but market conditions have only gotten worse.
Farmers are hurting from both US tariffs and retaliatory measures imposed by China and other countries on America. Demand for US products like soybeans has declined, as has the price of corn due to oversupply.
The Iran war also couldn't have come at a worse time (2). It's spring — the time of year where farmers get to planting. But with the Strait of Hormuz closed, fuel, which farmers use to run machinery and is used to produce fertilizer, has gone up.
In fact, the USDA predicts (3) farmers' production costs are expected to surpass $477 billion this year, up roughly 1% from last year's forecasts.
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Lawmakers are pushing for aid (4) that could provide much-needed assistance to the industry. The House is additionally expected to vote on the Farm Bill this week, with the current one year extension set to expire in September.
For his part, President Trump in December announced $12 billion in relief (5) for American farmers to help cushion the blow. More recently, his administration announced guaranteed federal loans for farmers (6) and new renewable energy standards that are expected to increase America's energy independence and create 100,000 new jobs.
Ryan Mackenthun, a Minnesota farmer himself told CBS he’s not giving up yet, “I'm optimistic that eventually we're going to have a market that will support farming” he said (1).
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Are higher prices coming for the consumer?
None of this bodes well for the consumer. With the price of growing food increasing for America's farmers, chances are we'll see prices at the grocery store go up (7) as well.
According to the USDA's latest April forecast, (8) food prices will rise 2.9% this year. But that could go up. While tariffs made certain grocery staples like fruits, vegetables, and canned goods more expensive, higher fuel prices will impact more items.
If you're looking for some reprieve at the checkout line, you can try to buy non-perishable foods in bulk. Also consider buying generic brand food items and freezing other foods like bread.
Using a rewards credit card that can earn you cash back that you can use at the end of the year is another handy trick. Just make sure you pay off the balance in full each month.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
CBS News (1); NPR (2); USDA (3),(5),(8); Notus (4); The Guardian (6); Yahoo Finance (7)
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Danni Santana is a journalist based out of NYC with a decade of experience reporting and editing business stories. He previously worked as a personal finance editor at CNET and retail editor at Business Insider. When he's not writing or editing, he's likely playing video games, buying sneakers, traveling or hanging out at a brewery.
