The Spokesman sat down with Iowa Farm Bureau President Brent Johnson last week to discuss challenges facing farmers, including low commodity prices and high input costs, international trade and retaliatory tariffs, the farm bill and key tax provisions due to expire this year. Following are some excerpts from that conversation.  

Q:
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing farmers as they prepare for another planting season?


Johnson:
Top of mind for a lot of farmers right now, in one form or another, is profitability on the farm. We’ve been through an...