A Look Back on the 2025 Farm Economy

Exploring Farmer Pressures in the AgIntel Index Report 

High input costs. High interest rates. Tariffs. Looking back on 2025, this year brought its fair share of challenges to farm country. 

Farmers faced one of the most difficult years in history, even before their fields thawed out. With already ongoing concerns like drought conditions and labor shortages, new pressures have compounded to make the 2025 farm economy one of the most challenging ones since 2009, according to Beth Ford, CEO of Land O’Lakes. 

The 2025 Farm Economy is just one of the topics we explored in the inaugural issue of the AgIntel Index Report, our new annual publication delivering trends, data and insights influencing the agriculture sector. The AgIntel Index Report is authored by AdFarmers and uses research and industry trends, plus insights from our Farm Voice community, to dig deeper into what farmers are facing. 

The first section of the AgIntel Index Report, Volatility, Transition and Resilience: The 2025 Farm Economy, was authored by Matt Weeks, Director of AgIntel; Ally Bosch, AgIntel Researcher and Brady Stadnicki, Director of New Business. The article covers the top concerns for farmers, exploring issues unique to Canada and the U.S. as well as shared challenges on both sides of the border. 

While producers in both Canada and the U.S. cited increasing costs of production as their top concern, U.S. producers are more concerned about low or volatile commodity prices and Canadian producers are more concerned about changing tax rules and trade barriers.  

For grain farmers, the global commodity market has been particularly tough as prices have been low or volatile while they have contended with higher production costs and changing government regulations, along with high interest rates. Although livestock producers are on the opposite side of the spectrum with record-high market prices, their input costs also remain high, on top of dealing with drought recovery and tighter herd inventories. Farmers are also aging, leading to a shrinking farmer population and consolidation of farms. Fewer farmers are managing larger swaths of farmland.  

The AgIntel Index Report further explores not only these issues, but also the ways that farmers are finding ways to face these challenges, helping them get through in the short term and potentially changing how they operate in the long term. These trends require all of us in the greater agribusiness industry to adapt to the changing needs of today’s grower. 

To learn more about the 2025 Farm Economy and other pertinent topics farmers faced this year, download your copy of the AgIntel Index Report today.