Farm Bankruptcies Hit Six-Year High in April

Jun 01, 2026

By Ryan Hanrahan

Law360’s Hilary Russ and Emily Lever reported that “monthly farm-related Chapter 12 filings soared in April to a more than six-year high, with more likely on the horizon, amid an overall increase in all bankruptcies as fuel prices and other costs continue to rise, according to data from Epiq AACER.”

“During the month of April, 62 bankruptcies were launched under Chapter 12, a 130% jump from April 2025 and the highest monthly total since February 2020. That figure is also 82% higher than the 34 Chapter 12 filings in March 2026, the data showed,” Russ and Lever reported. “‘This down period for crop farmers has been going on for several years now,’ said Robert E. Moore, an attorney and research specialist at The Ohio State University Extension’s Agricultural and Resource Law Program. ‘Each year that we don’t start on the upswing is just more and more stress on farmers, and I think the higher diesel prices, the higher fertilizer prices, it’s just made 2026 the breaking point.'”

“For monthly farm bankruptcies, the last time new Chapter 12 filings were this elevated was in February 2020, when overall bankruptcy rates were also higher before dropping during the pandemic,” Russ and Lever reported. “‘I don’t think there’s a lot of hope for the farm economy to show improvement any time soon,’ Moore said. ‘The anticipation is this farm stress is going to continue for the foreseeable future. So I think farm bankruptcies are more likely to increase than decrease over the next few years.'”

“So far this year, there have been at least 158 Chapter 12 filings across the country, with the most in Arkansas, Missouri and California, according to Epiq data,” Russ and Lever reported. “There are few Chapter 12 filings generally, so even a small numerical increase can look large.”

Source : illinois.edu

Video: Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday

Field Talk Friday | Dr. John Murphy | Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes

Most of us spend our time managing what we can see above ground—plant height, leaf color, stand counts, and yield potential. But the deeper you dig into agronomy, the more you realize that some of the most important processes driving crop performance are happening just millimeters below the surface.

In this episode of Field Talk Friday, Dr. John Murphy continues the soil biology series by diving into one of the most fascinating topics in modern agronomy: root exudates and the role they play in shaping the microbial world around plant roots.

Roots are not passive structures simply pulling nutrients out of the soil. They are active participants in the underground ecosystem. Plants constantly release compounds into the soil—sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and other molecules—that act as both energy sources and signals for soil microbes.