OPINION:
American farmers are under siege.
Farm bankruptcies in the first half of this year rose to the highest level since 2021, according to U.S. courts data. A suspended trade war with China has gutted the U.S. soybean market, which in 2024 was America’s largest agricultural export, valued at $24 billion.
Last year, China accounted for about half those purchases. Since President Trump’s tariffs went into effect this spring, China’s imports of U.S. soybeans have dropped to zero, intensifying pressure on farmers who are already facing lower prices this year because of a bumper crop. Soybean farmers will lose roughly $100 an acre this year, according to federal data compiled by The Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, the costs of farm equipment, fertilizer and other materials remain stubbornly high. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, farm production expenses are estimated to reach $467.4 billion this year, a $12 billion increase from last year.
The one bright spot in the U.S. agriculture sector is with cattle ranchers; however, their success is the American consumer’s bane. Herds, which were thinned out by the COVID-19 emergency, drought conditions and dried-up grazing pastures, haven’t recovered to meet renewed demand. As a result, beef prices at the grocery store have skyrocketed.
Over the 12 months ended in August, the price of ground beef increased 12.8%, according to Labor Department data. Ground beef prices rose 30 cents from May to August, reaching a record $6.32 per pound. Steaks increased by more than $1 per pound.
Rural Americans were one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal voting blocs in last year’s election, when he won the group by 40 percentage points over Kamala Harris, besting his own margins in 2020 and 2016, according to Pew Research. An analysis by Investigate Midwest found that Mr. Trump won farm-heavy counties across America by an average of 77%.
However, many in those rural areas are beginning to question Mr. Trump’s loyalty to his “America First” agenda, mainly to them.
“I’m in a little bit of a worried place,” 65-year-old Tim Maxwell, who owns a grain and hog farm near Moscow, Iowa, told the BBC last month. “Our yields, crops and weather are pretty good, but our [interest from] markets right now is on a low. It’s going to put stress on some farmers.”
Despite his financial worries, Mr. Maxwell promised to be patient with Mr. Trump. For many others within the industry, that patience is wearing thin. Earlier this month, Mr. Trump angered soybean and cattle farmers with a proposed deal with Argentina, which many considered the very antithesis of “America First.”
To ease U.S. consumers’ concerns at the grocery store, Mr. Trump floated expanding U.S. imports of Argentine beef, which would erode U.S. cattle ranchers’ profits. Mr. Trump’s $20 billion bailout to the country also irked U.S. soybean farmers, who are miffed that Argentina stepped up its exports to China in their absence.
To be sure, Mr. Trump is feeling the pressure. This week, he lashed out at the cattle ranchers on Truth Social for not understanding his trade policies.
“The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil,” Mr. Trump wrote. “It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!”
Soybean purchases will be the main topic of conversation when Mr. Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week. The president is hopeful he can work out a deal that will benefit U.S. farmers.
Meanwhile, amid the government shutdown, the Trump administration plans to release more than $3 billion in aid to U.S. farmers that has been frozen. The administration is also evaluating a $10 billion bailout for the industry, paid for by collected tariffs.
“Beef cattle were the only thing that’s keeping us afloat. If the prices drop, it’s going to affect us right now. It’s going to affect generations to come,” Randy Roberts, a beef and crop producer in Indiana, told CNN. “It will be hard for younger generations to get into the cattle business.”
If Mr. Trump wants U.S. farmers to stop sharing their concerns about his presidency with liberal outlets such as CNN and the BBC, he had best start listening to their cries and redirect his focus and energies into meeting their demands.
America First.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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