why did farmers think that a new political party was needed to bring about reform?

Brief Explanations:

Farmers faced economic hardships like high - interest rates, low crop prices, and railroad monopolies. Existing parties seemed unresponsive to their needs. A new party could advocate specifically for their interests such as government regulation of railroads, currency reform for more money in circulation to raise crop prices, and other agrarian - friendly policies.

Answer:

Farmers faced economic challenges that existing parties didn't address well. They hoped a new political party would advocate for policies beneficial to them like railroad regulation and currency reform to improve their economic situation.