Minnesota farmers are having a hard time making ends meet with 34 percent of those surveyed in a recent poll reporting they lost money last year.
The University of Minnesota Extension and Minnesota State tracked the past 23 years of data and found, after adjusting for inflation, Minnesota farms in 2018 earned the lowest median farm income during that period. Net income in 2018 was just over $26,000, down 8 percent from the previous year. Farmers in the lowest 20 percent reported losing nearly $72,000.
Gov. Tim Walz says the state can do its part, but more is needed.
"We have got to get our trade deals worked out," he said. "There's a brittleness, especially in dairy, that these folks in normal times, a barn collapses is a catastrophe, but you handle it. Now it is ending farms."
Last week, Walz signed a bill that would help farmers whose barns fell down after heavy snow. Now many are facing the threat of flooding, which could add to their plight.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety is reporting that 39 of Minnesota's 87 counties are now affected by some form of spring flooding.
Walz says it's still somewhat of a game of wait-and-see.
"I would say I'm confident in our responders," he said. "I am not confident that we are out of the woods because of the weather. What I would say is that the lessons learned, and the amazing thing...the Moorhead people, how much we've learned from them to make this better. I'm confident in that."
The DPS states a number of cities have also declared local emergencies, including St. Paul and Moorhead.