Food insecurity rates are rising faster in farm-dependent counties than almost anywhere else in the nation
This story was originally published in Investigate Midwest.
Over the last four decades, America’s agricultural output has nearly doubled, as the production of livestock and crops has not only fed the nation but also fueled growing food demand in Asia and South America.
But in the rural communities that have made the United States a global food power, residents are increasingly finding it difficult to access enough food for themselves.
While the national food insecurity rate has dropped slightly over the last decade, farming-dependent counties have seen an 11.7% increase.
Farming counties saw the second-highest increase among the six federal economic categories—farming, mining, recreation, manufacturing, government and nonspecific—according to an analysis by Investigate Midwest of U.S. Census Bureau and Feeding America data.
“I’m worried it will get worse,” says Nick Levendofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, who says rising farm costs and falling commodity prices are creating a “perfect storm” for farmers.
“I get the feeling that after fall harvest, if farmers aren’t able to pay their bills at the co-op, or pay their fertilizer bill, spray bill, seed bill, that kind of thing, then that means they’re struggling to put food on the table, too.”
The closure of grocery stores, tighter margins for farmers and ranchers, and the ongoing economic struggles of rural America all contribute to this hunger spike in farming communities.
But the problem of food insecurity could worsen as the Trump administration and Congress recently approved cuts to federal food assistance, farm-to-school programs and other grants that had been helping rural communities access local food.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will also stop collecting and releasing statistics on food insecurity after October 2025, saying the numbers had become “overly politicized.”
The nation’s 444 farming-dependent counties, largely concentrated in the Midwest, had an average food insecurity rate of 14.5%. While in line with the national average, the recent increase points to a worsening economy in rural America.
Nearly three-fourths of all farming counties saw an increase in food insecurity rates from 2013 to 2023.
“The farmer is the eternal optimist; they always feel like things are going to turn around, and maybe they will,” Levendofsky says. “But it sure doesn’t feel like it right now.”
Amy Ranky set out a selection of chili peppers and zucchini as a light drizzle fell in downtown Oklahoma City on a late August Saturday. From an hour away in rural Caddo County, where her family operates a vegetable and flower farm, Ranky’s final touch on her farmers market stand was a bright yellow sign that read, “We welcome SNAP.”
“It’s an amazing program, we just need more people to know about it,” Ranky says about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the federal food assistance program often referred to as food stamps.
Always looking for ways to increase her SNAP customer base, Ranky grew edible pumpkins this year so they would qualify.
“Every little bit helps,” Ranky says.
SNAP’s origins were in helping farmers.
The 1964 Food Stamp Act, which made the program permanent, was promoted by then-Agriculture Secretary Orville Freeman as a way to strengthen the farm economy–“Our farmers should have access to the full potential of our domestic market for food,” he says.
Over the next several decades, SNAP became both a needed lifeline for those living in poverty and an economic boost for farmers.
In 2005, state health officials in New York had an idea: What if SNAP dollars were worth more when spent on fresh fruits and vegetables?
The idea was simple: While $1 in SNAP money typically equals just $1 for soda or a bag of chips, that same dollar would turn into $2 if spent on produce, in an effort to make it more affordable.
The idea took hold and was adopted by several states, including Oklahoma, in 2019.
Today, the Double Up Oklahoma program is available at more than 80 locations, including at least 27 farmers markets, most in rural communities.
“SNAP benefits a lot of communities, but it’s been great for farmers, it’s good for local communities and it creates an access point for everyone, not just SNAP users,” says Chris Bernard, executive director of Hunger Free Oklahoma, the nonprofit that administers the state’s Double Up program.
Federal SNAP funds totaled nearly $100 billion last year and served more than 41 million people each month. On average, farmers receive 24.3 cents per SNAP dollar, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
But this year, the Republican-controlled Congress approved a reconciliation measure—part of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”—that could cut SNAP funds by 20% over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Large agriculture associations, including the American Farm Bureau, praised the bill, calling it a boost for farmers. “Lawmakers took a big step toward ensuring America’s farmers and ranchers can continue to keep pantries filled for America’s families,” said Zippy Duvall, the Farm Bureau’s president.
The bill added $59 million to crop insurance programs, which the American Farm Bureau lobbied for. However, crop insurance programs primarily benefit large commodities, such as corn and soybeans, much of which is used for fuel, animal feed and shipped overseas.
In addition to SNAP cuts, the bill also eliminated several other rural food programs, including Local Food for Schools, which helped schools purchase more food from local farmers.
The Local Food for Schools program not only increased the use of fresh fruits and vegetables in school meals, but it also provided new business opportunities for local farmers, says Debbie Friedman, director of policy at the Food Insight Group, a California-based research organization.
“Most of these farms (in the program) are small and medium-sized farms, and this was a significant part of their revenue,” Friedman says. “We are already losing farms ridiculously quickly and this doesn’t help.”
From 2017 to 2022, 409 counties lost at least 15% of their farmers and ranchers, according to USDA data.
Tighter margins and rising property values have forced many farmers to sell their land, Friedman says, especially as large corporations and commodity operations expand.
“I wish people understood that when they talk about wanting healthier, fresh foods in school and wanting to support farms, that this is doing the opposite,” Friedman says.
In the last 10 years, food insecurity rates rose by at least 50% in 20 farm-dependent counties nationwide—more than half of them in North Dakota.
Adams County, a prairie region in southwest North Dakota that raises sheep and cattle, had a food insecurity rate of just 6.7% a decade ago. Today, its rate has nearly doubled to 11.8%.
While the amount of farmland in the county has stayed the same, it has lost one in 10 farmers and seen farm-related income plunge by nearly 45%, according to USDA data.
Several other farm counties in the state saw similar spikes in food insecurity, along with declining farm incomes.
Like many rural communities across the country, hunger rates in North Dakota spiked after COVID-19. The Great Plains Food Bank, the only large food bank in the state, says it served 40% more people in the years after the pandemic.
“We’ve reached full capacity at our current facility, and the demand for food assistance is higher than ever,” Melissa Sobolik, CEO of the Great Plains Food Bank, said in a statement.
Earlier this year, the North Dakota legislature approved $5 million to build a new statewide distribution center for the food bank. While the center will be built in Fargo, at the far eastern edge of the state, food bank leaders say it will connect to major transportation routes, allowing food to reach rural communities quickly.
The expansion could be critical as the state faces a 35% SNAP cut, according to an analysis from The Commonwealth Fund.
With the federal SNAP cuts, states could face a greater burden in addressing hunger, says Gina Plata-Nino, the SNAP deputy director for the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit fighting hunger. But farm-heavy states could struggle most to fill that gap.
“It is rural states that are going to fare the worst because they don’t have the same property tax revenue to make up for the federal cuts,” Plata-Nino says. “But if you’re in a state with so many struggling farmers, no (lawmaker) is going to say ‘let’s raise taxes.’ ”
Instead, Plata-Nino predicts states will look to cut other services, like education and health care, which will also have a direct impact on rural communities.
“Farming is part of a larger ecosystem, and when you already have (tight) margins, any reduction in people buying food is going to hurt,” Plata-Nino says. “Some farmers are going to say, ‘Okay, I just can’t keep going.’ ”
Associated Press data reporter Kasturi Pananjady contributed to this report. This reporting is part of a series called “Sowing Resilience,” a collaboration between the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Rural News Network and The Associated Press. Nine nonprofit newsrooms were involved: The Beacon, Capital B, Enlace Latino NC, Investigate Midwest, The Jefferson County Beacon, KOSU, Louisville Public Media, The Maine Monitor and MinnPost. The Rural News Network is funded by Google News Initiative and Knight Foundation, among others.
Ben Felder is the editor in chief of Investigate Midwest. He was hired in 2023 to cover agribusiness and the meat industry in Oklahoma. Felder previously worked for The Oklahoman as a political enterprise reporter blending narrative storytelling, data analysis and investigative reporting to cover the state’s political leaders, the influences behind them, and their impact on everyday Oklahomans. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and a graduate of Trevecca University in Nashville, Felder lives in Oklahoma City with his wife, Lori, and son, Satchel.
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