06/01/26- Afternoon CommStock Report – No Where Near a 1980’s-like Farm Crisis

Part 1 of 2 While crop production margins have been negative and subsequently the number of farm bankruptcies has climbed, there is just no where near the degree of financial crisis occurring that defined what the Ag sector went through in the 1980s.  Nationally, farm bankruptcies were 44% higher last year than in 2024, but the increase is inflated in terms of percentage from a relative low level. The farm media talks up the current financial squeeze intending to elicit sympathy from readers and the public but what it shows is the lack of appreciation for what a real farm sector economic disaster looks like. In many ways, the Ag Depression of the 1980s was the defining period of my life.   Interest rates have climbed from historical lows but are a third of what they were at their peak in the `1980s crisis. Commodity prices reflect the value of the dollar. Currently, the dollar index hits a wall near par (100). Comparatively, during the U.S. farm crisis of the 1980s, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) surged dramatically, peaking at 164.72 in February 1985. This represented an appreciation of roughly 80% to 95% from its mid-1980 trough, devastating American agriculture by…