Caleb Ragland Calls for Relief for Soybean Farmers

Oct 30, 2025
By Farms.com

Ragland Calls for Tariff Relief and Biofuel Policy Support

Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association and a soybean farmer from Magnolia, Kentucky, testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing titled “Pressure Cooker: Competition Issues in the Seed & Fertilizer Industries.”

Ragland highlighted the financial challenges U.S. soybean farmers are facing, noting that high production costs and reduced market prices are severely impacting profitability. “Commodity prices have fallen by an average of 50% since 2022, at the same time farm production costs continue to skyrocket,” Ragland said. “Soybean farmers are expected to net a $109 per acre market loss on their crop this year.”

Ragland emphasized that rising input costs - including seed, fertilizer, pesticides, fuel, and equipment - are among the most significant threats to farm sustainability. “Farm profitability for row crops like soybeans will continue to remain in peril if input costs remain static at current levels,” Ragland stated.

Ragland called on Congress and the administration to act swiftly to reduce production costs and prevent further family farm closures. He proposed three key policy actions: removing tariffs on critical farm inputs, finalizing biofuel policies such as RFS and 45Z credit guidance to expand soy markets, and providing targeted financial assistance to farmers facing severe market losses.

Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?