People rely upon American farmers. President Trump has pledged to assist these farmers. Together with Republican leaders in Congress, he’s working to meet that dedication. The stakes are larger than ever, as agriculture faces among the most important challenges in generations.
Within the years because the final Farm Invoice handed in 2018, farmers have been more and more squeezed by rising prices, falling costs, and more and more unpredictable climate. Since 2020, farmers have seen steep will increase throughout all main enter classes — fertilizer prices alone are up 60% with related spikes in gasoline, equipment, repairs and chemical compounds. Between 2022 and 2024, commodity costs collapsed: corn down 37%, soybeans 29%, cotton 22%, wheat and sorghum 36%, and rice almost 46%.
In the meantime, international opponents proceed to flood world markets with backed commodities, undercutting U.S. producers and distorting costs. In 2024, america recorded a $32 billion agricultural commerce deficit, solely the fourth such shortfall within the final 50 years. In Could, the Agriculture Division forecast that the 2025 commerce deficit will enhance to $49.5 billion. It’s a nationwide safety danger. When America loses management of its meals provide, we change into extra reliant on nations that will not share our values.
Since 2017, we’ve got misplaced greater than 140,000 farms, and farm bankruptcies are on the rise.
When farming falters, communities in all places really feel the impact. Greater manufacturing prices and fewer home farms imply larger costs on the grocery retailer and extra provide chain disruptions. Farm closures have broad ripple results on rural economies, meals processing, and transportation and logistics. Each household and food-related enterprise in America loses a measure of meals safety once we permit international opponents to achieve floor in these markets.
The Trump administration just lately reaffirmed that meals safety is nationwide safety, writing that “threats to American agriculture … expose us to dangers of shortages, international dependencies and better costs” within the USDA’s just lately launched Nationwide Farm Safety Motion Plan.
It is a slow-moving disaster, nevertheless it’s not one we’re powerless to unravel. The America First Coverage Institute’s Farmers First Agenda requires making vital enhancements to the farm security internet. A modernized security internet will match as we speak’s challenges, guarantee farmers can higher climate market swings, and push again towards cheaters. With the suitable insurance policies, we are able to stabilize markets and assist preserve household farms in enterprise.
Via the One Huge Stunning Invoice, Republicans have begun to advance actual “America First” insurance policies that strengthen the farm security internet, reinforce home manufacturing, and assist rural jobs for core staples equivalent to sugar, the overwhelming majority of which comes from household farmers rising sugarcane and sugarbeets coast to coast.
Farmers ask for equity — fewer bureaucratic obstacles, a degree enjoying area and insurance policies that replicate the real-world challenges they face.
Leif Larson is a media advisor and strategist. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
