It’s a tough time for the farm community.

Geary County Extension Agent Chuck Otte said that the community is on the brink of a farm crisis similar to the one in the 1980s.

“We’ve been through a 20 year honeymoon, we had very good prices, very good profitability and farmers were very productive, very profitable; the period from 2010 to about 2014 – 15 was record high profitability, but we went from over $100,00 average profit per farm in Kansas in 2014 to $4000 last year and in 2016 there’s a good chance that it could be a negative profitability,” said Otte.

The statewide trend is that 10 to 15% of the farm community statewide will be affected by the crisis – there are approximately 200 farmers in Geary County.

A major contributor is the falling commodity prices that are out of the hands of producers, says Otte. “We’ve had good crops, and when you’ve had a glut of grain on the market you’re going to have lower prices – so that’s the big problem right now.”

Otte said that his role as an Extension Agent is to help producers figure out where they can cut costs without hurting production.

According to Living History Farm, “The boom of the 70s became the bust of the 80s because surplus production rose, land prices rose, too many farmers were carrying too much debt, problems in the economy forced interest rates to historic highs, and a new administration tried to cut back on government support. As a result, marginal farmers were forced off their land. Many did not go quietly as farm protest movements heated up during the 80s. The number of farmers shrank, and the average farm got bigger.”