Farming has always been and will always be a tough trade. If it was not, everyone would do it. Regardless, we all benefit when America’s farms are strong and its farmers are doing well.

“New York State farm families are facing the worst economic conditions since the farm crisis of the 1980s,” reads an article in NY FarmNet, a project of the state government and Cornell University. There are real human consequences to downturns in farming, as the livelihoods of families and communities depend on farm income. To understand the increases in stress and hardship on farmers, we need to look back to the lessons learned from the 1980s farm crisis, so that the government today does not repeat the same mistakes.

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