Something is breaking in farm country, and the warning signs are growing harder to ignore.

The clearest indicator arrived this spring, when farm bankruptcies reached their highest level in six years. For many Americans, it was just another sad statistic. In rural communities, it was something far more ominous.

Risk and uncertainty have always been involved in farming. Weak prices, bad weather and rising costs come with the territory, and farmers can weather those setbacks. What makes this moment different is that several challenges, both old and new, are hitting at once, resulting in a squeeze that leaves few paths to recover when something goes wrong.

The current predicament has been years in the making. During COVID, commodity prices surged. But when the pandemic boom ended, so did the gains. Today, prices for major crops are down as much as 40% from their recent highs. At the same time, President Donald Trump’s tariff battles — especially with China, Canada and Mexico — continue to upend key export markets, shrinking the number of buyers for American crops.

Some problems are newer. The war in Iran has driven up the price of fuel, fertilizer and other farm costs. Meanwhile, immigration enforcement has shrunk the population of undocumented immigrants, who are sometimes the only workers willing to fill agricultural jobs.

This cumulative burden is pushing some producers into........

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