As More Crops Pile Up, Farmers’ Fortunes Fall

Across the nation’s heartland, mountains of golden grain are piling up.

The harvest has been bountiful, with the third-largest corn and soybean crops on record.

But bigger is not always better in farm country, which has been hurt this year by sagging prices and drought and floods in parts of the East and Midwest. For the second consecutive year, the federal government has intervened, with a record $8.7 billion in emergency aid approved last month by President Clinton.

But the bailout will only slow, not stop, farmers from leaving their land, says Robert Jolly, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University.

“You can’t subsidize their way to profitability,” he says. “It may buy a little time, but it really isn’t the sort of assistance that financially stressed farmers need.”

For three Midwest farmers--one turning 40, another in his 50s, the last in his 60s--the bailout was too little or too late. They already had decided to quit this year because of financial reasons.

For each, it was the end of a long family tradition. For each, there was regret and relief.

“We could have done other financial things to keep farming,” one said, “but you’ve got to stop the bleeding some place.”

Their stories appear on A16, A17 and A18.