Hennen: As agriculture goes, so goes Main Street

There’s an old saying out here on the prairie: as agriculture goes, so goes Main Street. Right now, Main Street is hurting—because our farmers are in trouble.

We’ve come to take for granted America’s oldest industry. We just assume farmers will farm, and we’ll eat what they grow. Too many folks under 40 think food comes from the grocery store, not the land. But our growers literally feed the world. And today, that world is in danger of losing its primary food source.

The math tells the story. According to the latest analysis, corn is selling for $4.81 a bushel—when it costs $5.87 to grow. That’s a $1.06 loss on every bushel. Soybeans? Farmers lose $1.78 a bushel at today’s prices. Add it up, and America’s corn and soybean growers are staring at a staggering $24.3 billion loss this year a