Axios: Straits of Hormuz … the world in strive. Starting with farmers growing desperate

Posted on May 16, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
🚜 Farmers growing desperate
 
Illustration of a tractor and a field of crops from above in the form of an upward trending line chart
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
 
Farmers across the Midwest are entering planting season under mounting financial pressure, as the Iran conflict drives up diesel and fertilizer prices — deepening the worst agricultural downturn in decades, report Nathan Bomey and Axios Local reporters across the Farm Belt.

Why it matters: Rising fuel and fertilizer costs threaten to kill more family farms, drive up food prices and further strain rural economies already battered by trade disruptions, inflation and extreme weather. 

The big picture: Mark Mueller — a northeast Iowa farmer and president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association — tells Axios that the current landscape is tougher than at any time since the 1980s farm crisis, when interest rates soared and exports plunged, triggering agricultural bank failures.

Bankruptcies are rising. Lenders are becoming more reluctant to loan to farmers.“There’s going to be fewer farmers next year than this year,” Mueller says.

Farmers are grappling with a confluence of forces:

🔌 Skyrocketing energy prices triggered by the Iran war. Diesel is up 60% from last year.
🌾  Spiking fertilizer pricesand shortages after Iran blocked shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. 70% of farmers say they can’t afford the fertilizer they need.
🇨🇳 Disrupted export markets tied to President Trump’s tariffs and Chinese import restrictions.💧 Global drought and other weather pressures. 

The crisis is hitting farmers hard across the country:

In Arkansas, energy and fertilizer costs are way up even as farmers are selling their crops for less.

In Ohio, first-generation farmer Michael Kilpatrick said his fuel bills are up from $400 to $700, and container costs have risen 30%.

In Iowa, farmers are dealing with a decline in soybean prices from $13-$15 to around $10 per bushel, as exports to China have fallen due to trade tensions.

In Minnesota, calls to the state’s farm and rural issues mental health helpline are climbing.

For consumers, the crisis is especially noticeable with beef.

The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level in decades, largely due to global drought.Contributing Axios reporters: Worth Sparkman in NW Arkansas, Monica Eng in Chicago, Casey Weldon in Cincinnati, Jason Clayworth in Des Moines, Arika Herron in Indianapolis, Torey Van Oot in the Twin Cities, and Kelly Tyko in Florida.Share this story.
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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