Farming and the Credit Crisis

The credit crisis has obviously had a huge detrimental effect across all sectors of the economy, but it has been especially bad for farmers in some places. Lowered prices of commodities combined with increased cost pressures means that farmers are going to need a lot of working capital in the coming years, and the banks are definitely not as forthcoming with loan money as they have been in the past. What does this mean for small farmers, and how are they going to deal with the upcoming cash crunch when their funding dries up?

Farmers and growers have been meeting with some of the leading agricultural banks to try and plead their case, because these banks have been raising their borrowing prices at an extremely difficult time, and some farmers are very much so worried about the future of their businesses. I think it is important all this doom and gloom news with a grain of salt, because I do not understand how farming (as an absolutely essential part of any country) will be allowed to go under. Everyone has to eat do they not?

Besides, farmers are still getting close to the same rates that they have historically gotten. It is not nearly as bad as tightening of consumer lending that has been going on. The farmers and growers have historically been very good customers, so I do not think the banks will want to lose valued long-term customers in these very uncertain times. Hell, what about all the subsidies most farmers are getting anyways? It is not like they are destitute or going to starve. I wish I got government money regardless of how well my crops were doing, and what the market was saying about my product.