Stark Statistics

The California drought of previous years had already reduced the planting for this year, by nearly a third.  Sadly, 2014 has also been a year of drought, so even what was planted will not be an abundant crop.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-29/california-farms-going-thirsty-as-drought-burns-5-billion-hole.html

Florida farmers are enjoying the prices of corn and soybeans.  So that means more GMO!  The largest crops in this country are GMO, now.  Many Florida farmers have found these harvests are much easier than the crops that require hand picking, like strawberries and oranges.  That's not to say all Florida farmers have followed this ideology, but the produce prices are indicative of the changes.

Much of the Ohio Valley and Midwest have enjoyed optimal growing conditions, but again the large operations are GMO.   The rangeland is still not operating anywhere near the former herd numbers.  I don't like to use the term America's herd, because I still believe the ranchers each have their own herd, but for the sake of the numbers, I'll simply state, the number of cattle in this country has continued to decline again in 2014, falling below last year's record as the lowest number since 1951.

To add insult to injury in Arkansas, the CEO of a large grain purchasing business has filed bankruptcy.  Some farmers are unsure they will even be paid for their harvest.  The following is a couple of paragraphs from the article linked in the previous sentence.

The chapter 12 bankruptcy of a principal of Arkansas’ Turner Grain Co. and accompanying grain contract defaults could cost farmers in the Mississippi Delta “paper” losses of up to $70 million, according to a Greenville lawyer for several grain producers.

Separate from the paper losses is the prospect of some farmers going unpaid for grain already sold to Turner Grain.  

http://msbusiness.com/blog/2014/09/19/grain-buyers-bankruptcy-take-steep-toll-delta-farmers/

"Paper" loss for independent farmers has greater significance than "paper" loss for Wall Street executives.  Independent farmers take the financial hit, themselves . . . There are no backroom political deals for them.  While bankers get bailouts, farmers get foreclosures.

As the year of Shemitah is quickly approaching, we must also realize, the judgment that is coming to America may indeed be land that rests.  Torah states that it was permissible to eat what the the untilled, untended land produced . . . but that was Instruction to an obedient people.  Reduced crops this year, abundant harvests of crops that are not food, and Shemitah will greatly affect the health of this nation.

And the solution to all these statistics?  Carefully worded policies for "crop insurance."  Crop insurance is exactly what it sounds like.  If the crop fails, the farmer receives a dollar value per acre for the failed crop.  Hopefully the compensation will cover enough of the expenses to keep the farm in business til the next planting season, but and it's a big BUT, that doesn't put any food on the grocer's shelves.