Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 11/4/19

Agricultural producers have faced a historic mix of challenges this year, from extreme weather to continued trade headwinds. Those hurdles have exacerbated longer-term problems in the farm economy like a multiyear decline in farm income and rising debt levels. It all adds up to a growing number of farmers and ranchers being driven into bankruptcy. 

Farm bankruptcies increased by 24 percent in fiscal 2019, according to economists at the American Farm Bureau Federation. There were 580 filings for Chapter 12 bankruptcy (a legal option for family farmers and fishermen), the highest number since 2011.

Keeping it in context: Producers aren't going out of business at the same rate as during the 1980s farm crisis, but "the trend is a concern," AFBF writes. Trump signed bipartisan legislation in August to overhaul the farm bankruptcy law so more producers can qualify under Chapter 12 rules, which were originally written in the 1980s.