As rising input costs continue to burden farm country, lawmakers are taking notice. Noah Coppess, a family farmer from Stanwood, Iowa, recently provided testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on how fertilizer and seed costs are putting pressure on his farm’s balance sheet.

“I was trying to convey that our input costs have elevated continually. We’re having a hard time finding a profit on our farm. We don’t have any negotiating power in some areas, and it’s time to take a look at that and what the reasoning is behind that. Things are pretty tough on the farm right now.”

Coppess said he’s assessing whether their family’s business model is still viable.

“Does it still work? My wife works on the farm full-time, and we’re trying to figure out if we can adjust that to keep that in place, and we’re certainly trying to be bare minimum users of certain inputs. We’re putting some more risk on the table in our farm by pulling some fertilizer back.”

Smith: Coppess encourages all farmers and ranchers to tell their story to lawmakers.

“Well, if you don’t tell it, somebody else is going to tell it for you, so you need to pick what narrative you want. I know what’s going on on my farm, so I need to tell that story. So, for me, my first step getting involved would be to reach out, get involved in my local Farm Bureau. Get involved in something local with the folks in your county, and you can pick how involved you want to be at that point.”