Farm Bankruptcies on the Rise Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

May 12, 2020

Year-to-year farm bankruptcies increased 23 percent, according to recently released data from U.S. Courts. An American Farm Bureau Federation Market Intel report shows a total of 627 filings during the 12-month period ending March 2020, marking five consecutive years of Chapter 12 bankruptcy increases, including an accelerated rate since January.

Wisconsin was the hardest hit with 78 filings in the 12-month period, followed by Nebraska with 41 Chapter 12 filings and Iowa at 37. More than 50 percent of the Chapter 12 filings were in the 13-state Midwest region, followed by 19 percent in the Southeast.

“Each bankruptcy represents a farm in America struggling to survive or going under, which is both heartbreaking and alarming,” said American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall. “Even more concerning, the difficulty staying afloat is made worse by the pandemic and related shutdowns as farmers are left with fewer markets for their products and lower prices for the products they do sell.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.