KTTC

By Ryder Blair

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar visited a farm in Olmsted County on Wednesday to discuss the changing landscape of agriculture in Minnesota as a part of her 13-county rural economic tour.

During her stop at Paclear Farm in Eyota, with the Pagel family, Klobuchar noted farm bankruptcies are climbing to a five-year high. She said it’s been driven by high input costs and tariffs.

“The prices for the crop, especially with corn and soybeans, have been down, and the tariffs aren’t helping. I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of the tariffs,” Klobuchar said.

The Pagels recognized their family-run farm has experienced some effects from tariffs, but they also said it’s a complicated picture.

“The tariffs are not necessarily helping us in all aspects,” Ron Pagel said. “I think there’s another side that people don’t like to talk about. Maybe there’s some benefits. Maybe we didn’t realize what some of the tariffs were against the U.S., and they’re finally bringing [them] to light.”

Their conversations with Klobuchar also touched on challenges beyond the fields, like ag technology access, the next farm bill, and rural childcare gaps.

“We were lucky enough to get my daughter into daycare, but I have plenty of friends that haven’t been so lucky, or they have to try to find daycare even before they think about getting pregnant,” Jeff Pagel said.

The Pagels produce dairy, corn, soybeans, and oats. The family mentioned dipping their feet into each market helps them ride out the ups and downs of the ag economy.

“If I’m strictly a cash crop farmer, I’m in a world of hurt,” Ron said. “We have cull cows that we sell [which] basically go into hamburger, into the beef supply. We’re at record prices for those cull cows when we sell them.”

As Minnesota’s growing oat market offers some relief for farmers, Klobuchar said it shows why bipartisan support is crucial.

“So we need to get our colleagues to join with us [on] year-round E15, get rid of some of these tariffs, and get some balance when it comes to the tariffs and just do targeted tariffs,” Klobuchar said. “Do something when it comes to the real needs in rural America, which is daycare and housing and those kinds of things that don’t just affect farmers.”

Next week, Klobuchar heads back to Congress, hopeful for more bipartisan support on a new farm bill and meeting rural economic needs.

Klobuchar visits all 87 Minnesota counties each year.