The letter complains of the “indiscriminate and haphazard nature” of Trump’s tariff policies.
Letter to Ranking Agriculture Committee Members
Please consider a Letter to Ranking Agriculture Committee Members by 26 agriculture experts.
Dear Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Craig, Chairman Boozman , and Ranking Member Klobuchar,
We are writing today to express our significant concerns about the state of America’s farm economy and the harmful and compounding effect that Administration policies are having on our farmers and on the long-term competitiveness of U.S. agriculture .
We write as a group of bipartisan former leaders of American agricultural commodity and biofuels associations, farm leaders, and former USDA officials. We have spent our entire careers working to build U.S. agriculture and are dismayed at the damage that is being done to American farmers.
Farmer bankruptcies have doubled, barely half of all farms will be profitable this year, and the U.S. is running a historic agriculture trade deficit. These metrics reflect a sharp reversal from record farm export surpluses and farm incomes experienced just a few years ago .
The reasons for the dramatic turnaround are complex, but it is clear that the current Administration’s actions, along with Congressional inaction, have increased costs for farm inputs, disrupted overseas and domestic markets, denied agriculture its reliable labor pool, and defunded critical ag research and staffing. And these impacts are not happening in a vacuum.
At the same time that farm country is reeling from these blows to agriculture, rural health care cuts are threatening a vital safety net for America’s farm families. Congress needs to assert itself on behalf of farmers if we are to avoid a widespread collapse of American agriculture and our rural communities.
Increased Cost of Farm Inputs
We respect the desire to enhance American manufacturing and acknowledge that in some targeted circumstances tariffs can be an effective tool to protect America’s national security interests. Unfortunately, the indiscriminate and haphazard nature of the current tariff policies have not revitalized American manufacturing and have significantly damaged American farm economy.
By placing tariffs on farm inputs — from fertilizer, to farm chemicals, to machinery parts– the Administration’s tariffs have increased prices for farm inputs and have pushed the cost of production well above commodity prices. While we applaud the recent decision to exempt fertilizer imports from tariffs, we question why the government was ever placing tariffs on fertilizer and ask why the Administration has not moved to remove tariffs on all farm inputs. It makes no sense to drive up farm input costs, taking money out of the pockets of America’s farmers.
Loss of Market Access
This Administration’s trade policies and lack of Congressional action have also hurt American farmers by reducing our global competitiveness, disrupting export markets, and reducing commodity prices.
One of the current President’s first actions when elected in 2016 was to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – a twelve-nation free trade agreement strongly supported by America’s farmers. The American Farm Bureau estimated that this agreement would have boosted farm exports by $4.4 billion per year. Farmers at the time were willing to accept that loss of those export benefits, assuming that it would be more than offset by new bilateral trade deals with other countries.
Unfortunately, that hope has not been realized. Consider – the impact of the China trade war on soybeans alone – in 2018 , when the China tariffs were initially imposed, whole U.S. soybean exports represented 47% of the world market. Today, whole U.S. soybeans represent just 24.4% – a 50% reduction in market share. Meanwhile, Brazil’s share of the world export market grew by more than 20%. Put another way, during the same period, harvested acres of soybeans produced in Brazil grew from 83.0 million to 119 million, while soybean acreage in the U.S. fell by more than 7.0 million acres. Other U.S. commodities have suffered similar losses.
Brazil has been the big winner in these trade wars, allowing it to become the world’s dominant ag exporter, now the top exporter in soybeans, cotton, beef, and chicken. But other countries, including Argentina and Australia, have stepped into this vacuum as well. Any farmer will tell you, once lost , it is extremely difficult to win markets back.
The U.S. is simply no longer viewed as a reliable supplier. The one significant bright spot for trade during the current President’s first term in office was the successful negotiation and passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)in 2018- 2019. This agreement passed Congress with historic bipartisan support and stabilized trade with two of America’s largest ag export markets and has provided significant economic benefits to our corn, pork, poultry, and dairy producers. Unfortunately, recent comments by representatives of the Administration have cast into doubt the future of the USMCA and whether it will be renewed after this review period.
Weakening of International Trade Partnerships Bellicose rhetoric and chaotic trade policies have caused our traditional trading partners to question the reliability of the U.S. as a trading partner and to turn to other countries to stabilize international trade.
The BRICS coalition (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), is dramatically expanding its share of world ag markets, and may well be the single largest threat to American agriculture. Just this year, the EU has announced the creation of a major free trade bloc with the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) while last month Canada announced a new trade agreement with China.
Cuts to Foreign and Domestic Food Aid
Even as the Administration has disrupted our overseas export markets, cuts to foreign aid and domestic food programs are negatively impacting important domestic and overseas markets for many U.S. commodities, including rice , wheat, and peanuts, undermining U.S. foreign policy, and exacerbating food insecurity here and abroad.
Disruptions to Farm Labor
Securing the border and discouraging illegal immigration should clearly be a national priority. But mass deportations, removal of protected status, and failure to reform the H -2A visa program is wreaking havoc with dairy, fruit and produce, and meat processing . Those disruptions are causing food to go to waste and driving up food costs for consumers. These disruptions are also financially squeezing food and agriculture businesses and sowing the seeds of division in rural communities. Farmers need these workers.
Cuts to USDA Staffing and Ag Research
The massive and indiscriminate firings of USDA employees is impacting the ability of farmers to effectively and efficiently access important USDA services. Farmers can’t get payments in a timely fashion or the assistance they previously received. Moreover, dramatic reductions in USDA research and funds to land grant colleges are causing additional hardships and threatening the long-term competitiveness of U.S. agriculture . The cuts to research are particularly troublesome given the need to develop value-added markets or the next “new molecule” with potentially grave consequences over the long-term. As advocates for farmers and agribusiness with decades of experience, we know that farmers don’t want government handouts – they want markets. They want world-class research so that they can compete. They want their families and communities to have affordable health care services.
The policies of this Administration have caused tremendous harm to U.S. agriculture. But it is not too late to turn this around . We ask that Congress take the following actions to begin restoring America’s farm economy to a stable, dependable footing:
- Immediately exempt all farm inputsfrom tariffs;
- Repeal tariffs that are disrupting agriculture export markets;
- Pass Trade Promotion Authority to enable the Administration to pursue and secure meaningful enforceable free trade agreements that can be passed by Congress and have the full force and effect of law
- Direct the Administration to prioritize the negotiation of binding trade agreements with countries that need our agricultural products and that can help offset other market disruptions
- Encourage the Administration to expeditiously complete the review of the U.S.- Mexico Canada Agreement favorably resolve the pending dairy dispute settlement case with Canada and ensure that the USMCA is extended for the next sixteen years
- Pass legislation to enable nationwide E15 year round ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel to boost domestic markets for U.S. corn and soybeans
- Pass new farm bill
- Pass farm labor reform including reform to the 2A program and
- Restore funding for land grant agriculture research critical USDA staffing and domestic and international food aid programs
That is the most damning letter one could ever expect to see from farm groups to Republicans.
It has 26 signatures.
As I glance through the group, nearly all of them all “past” presidents or CEOs of some agricultural group. Here are some examples
- Past President National Corn Growers Association
- Past President & CEO Renewable Fuels Association
- Past President American Soybean Association
- Past President National Pork Producers Council
- Past Chair U.S. Grains Council
- Past CEO National Corn Growers Association
- Past President Farm Foundation
- Past President Illinois Farm Bureau
- Past Director Nebraska Department of Agriculture
Apparently the current presidents of all these associations are too fearful to tell Trump the same obvious things.
Trump Says He Loves Farmers
South Dakota Searchlight notes Trump says he loves farmers. He’s dismantling the agency helping their communities survive.
About 10% of the 15,000 federal employees who have left the U.S. Department of Agriculture worked for Rural Development, the agency most responsible for federal investment in farming communities.
To date, more than 1,500 Rural Development staffers have left, the USDA said — likely leaving the agency with fewer staffers than at the end of the first Trump administration. That’s roughly 10% of the 15,000 total USDA employees who have left the department.
Across the country, only 55% of farms have broadband access, and Starlink has been pushed as an alternative in rural areas because it relies on satellites instead of traditional cable infrastructure. But the federal official who led the government’s broadband program pilloried Starlink in a resignation letter in March, according to Politico.
Trump has often declared his love for farmers and rural communities, but, like now, his first administration targeted Rural Development for job cuts.
Oklahoma has long struggled with health care access. By 2020, Oklahoma had the second-highest uninsured rate in the country, according to Oklahoma Watch, and Tillman County had one of the highest uninsured rates in the state. About 18% of its several thousand residents had no insurance.
Trump Loves Farmers Into Bankruptcy
The Tribune Chronical reports Trump Loves Farmers Into Bankruptcy
At a 2018 press conference in New York City, Trump said of American farmers, “I love them, and they voted for me, and they love me. … And they said, ‘We don’t care if we get hurt, he’s doing the right thing.’”
During his 2025 joint address to Congress, Trump said, “Our new trade policy will also be great for the American farmer — I love the farmer.”
Hardly any sector has suffered from Trump’s trade wars more than agriculture. Soybeans were hardest hit.
Before the first trade war in the first Trump administration, China was the biggest foreign market for U.S. soybeans, taking about 30% of total production. Soybean exports to China fell from $12.3 billion in 2017 to $3.1 billion in 2018.
Joe Biden came into office, and exports rose in 2022 to a record $16.4 billion. But farmers didn’t vote for Biden’s successor in 2024. They voted again for Trump, even though he campaigned with a promise for Trade War II, singling out China.
And come “Liberation Day” on April 2, he launched it with heightened ferocity. China retaliated, targeting U.S. agricultural products. This year, just as American soybean farmers anticipate a bumper crop, exports to China are down to about zero.
Other American farm products have also suffered greatly. They include corn, beef, tree nuts and pork.
The political mystery endures. It’s somewhat understandable that Trump appealed to rural voters in 2016. After all, he kept saying he loved farmers. The first trade war undoubtedly took them by surprise, though he did bail them out with $23 billion in aid, courtesy of the American taxpayer.
But why did they vote for him a second time? Trump received an even larger percentage of their support while promising another trade war. Almost 78% of voters in farming-dependent counties supported him in 2024. The reasons were probably part cultural — rural Americans tend to be more socially conservative — and Trump’s inflation argument also hit home. Under Biden, prices were rising for fertilizer, fuel and equipment.
But even if this latest trade war ended tomorrow, growers of commodity crops like soybeans would still face lasting damage. They’ve spent decades cultivating buyers for their products in China and elsewhere. China is looking for new suppliers, and once those relationships are cemented, it will be hard to win them back.
China has turned to Brazil and Argentina for soybeans — Australia for beef. It’s investing in port projects in Peru and Brazil to ensure a reliable supply of farm products from South America. Trump is talking about another big bailout of farmers, but once replaced, Americans have lost long-term. No magic wand can bring their export markets back to their former glory.
The trade war has also further raised the farmers’ prices, especially for fertilizer. Much of it comes from trade-war target Canada.
One doubts that other business interests would have been as accommodating to Trump’s ruinous policies as farmers were after getting whacked the first time around.
Heartland grumbling has turned into louder protest. But no matter. Trump is presumably not running again for president. He no longer needs their vote — or rural scenery for campaign backdrops. And he certainly doesn’t yearn for their love. He’s a city boy, and the company he favors hail from crypto, tech and Wall Street.
How did Trump pull it off, abusing farmers while convincing them, like battered wives, that he still loved them? That took considerable talent, reminiscent of his much-quoted remark, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
Thing is, people on Fifth Avenue are doing just fine. It’s the farmers who are bleeding.
Losing Policy All Around
Tariffs are hurting farmers, manufacturers, small businesses, importers, and consumers.
Tariffs even hurt the businesses they strive to protect because of the collateral damage to the economy.
No one gains from this economic madness.
Based on the letter sent to Congress, I suspect we may see a few shocking upsets in the midterm elections in rural America.
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living back up in the hudson valley upstate NY. tons of apple farmers in same families since before the amerikan revolution. btw my town was first capitol of NYS in 1776 after antifa founding fathers revolution. in 1777, the british marched up from NYC and burned this small city to the ground……….founded by the Dutch. trivia question. who is purported to have been the first to nickname NYS, the empire state.
As a farmer, I have been asking this forum the question “Who does Trump work for” for a considerable amount of time.
The press (his vanity) and corporations are the answer,
Even with this letter one can not talk negatively about Trump to rural farmers. It really is a cult of deliberate ~ suspension of disbelief. I tread softly around the subject with the locals…
i saw Trump live at his “rally” at freedom fest in Vegas, 2 weeks after he announced in summer 2015, at trump tower. a packed ballroom of so called libertarians….from all over the country and world. rubio spoke in morning. he was dynamic. trump spoke after lunch……..HE HAD 1/3 OF AUDIENCE IN PALM OF HIS HAND. I COMMENTED to the young fella, my pal, a harvard fullbright scholar entrepeneur, a queens nyc chinese amerikan, who was enraptured. YOU MY FRIEND ARE A SUCKER FOR BENITO MUSSOLINI CULT OF PERSONALITY AND ORATORY. BENITO, ADOLPH, DONALD ALL HAVE THE POWER. charlie chaplin knew this and did a film about it. your farmer neighbors are nothing special. i mean that as a compliment. hate and vitriol and power of pursuasion are as old as time.
PS my family knew Trump’s father very well. Dad saw donald grow up. brother his age and knows him well. my bro, went to Nam like a damn fool. Donald always showed up at the Viet nam vet homeless fundraisers…………i saw it myself in 80s.
you forgot number 1 Israel, he works for Israel, everything else is noise.
i recently bought the stock LAND reit…….any comments from the peanut gallery ?.
Wheres frosty. What are they saying at coffee
They simply can not admit that they were taken in… Lied to, and screwed…
This sounds like leverage for higher farming subsidies. Overwhelmingly the farming communities in the U.S. voted for Trump in 2024.
What are these associations for if not to be LOUD and CLEAR VOICES for farmers? They have been AWOL in this mess.
Much of this letter concerns the damaging effects of Trump’s tariffs. No present OR former Farmer association head joined the amicus briefs in the lawsuit challenging Trump’s authority to raise tariffs without Congressional approval. They were silent. This letter expects them to speak up bravely, NOW? Now it’s too late.
The TPP was supposed to be a boon to Farmers by expanding U.S. access to export markets. Did U.S. farmers think that tariffs were going to raise U.S. food prices (they have) but not cause blowback with our trading partners?
The impact of Trump’s “trade diplomacy-by-insult” with China is that China has cut its imports of U.S. farm goods and increased imports from Brazil. China is expanding its economic ties with food suppliers throughout Latin America. And what does Trump do? Alienate Latin America with its gunboat diplomacy against Venezuela and Cuba! Two own goals!
This letter is too little, too late, too cowardly. Yet many of these Farmers will still vote Republican next November. Pitiful!
USA – United Stooopids of America
My first cousin is a farmer in North Dakota, about a couple of thousand acres of a variety of crops.
He’s lost hundreds of thousands of dollars each year the past couple of years.
He’s trying to transition away from sugar beets, because the big sugar company shut down their processing plant in the area.
The farmers are not dumb-asses.
They are salt-of-the-earth Americans who have more important concerns than reflexively voting their own wallets.
Should they have voted for Kamala?
Farmers know better than anyone that there are no transgender cows, hens, or pigs.
They wanted to vote against the Dem strategy of undermining American society, totalitarian wokification, state censorship, cancelation of normalcy, adulation of insanity and incompetence, and perennial one-party rule (as in California and blue “sanctuary” cities).
They are gullible, though. Hard to believe Americans keep trusting new promises after a century of non-stop propaganda.
The farmers got exactly what they voted for. No more. No less. The deserve every single inch of the spiked stick that Trump is shoving up their buttholes.
Fuck them.
First you say they’re not dumb asses and then you lay out why they’re the dumbest fucks under the sun. Lol
Good for them not voting their wallet but for their belief. Now dont ask for others to pay for the consquences of not voting their wallet.
like all people, from city to burbs to mountain folks….. some farmers smart and see reality. some not so much.
What comes after „They wanted to vote against“ is actually a pretty good description of what we got by electing Trump and his sycophants & flunkies.
Both of these assertions contain an extra word and need correction
At least these dumb farmers aren’t blaming Canada, for once. But they’ll probably get around to doing that once the USMCA negotiations start. They have to find ways of dumping their subsidized, excess production into foreign markets, see? Just looking at dairy products, they export the most horrible stuff you can imagine into Canada, and then wonder why consumers here don’t want to buy it. The U.S.-produced cheese that’s exported to Canada is practically inedible! I’m thinking that it must come from the fabled “cheese mountain”. I mean, how good can cheese be if it’s extracted from a literal mountain of cheese? (It’s not literally a mountain, it’s actually stored in caves in Missouri, haha.)
You probably don’t know many farmers. Much of what you say is evidence of that.
Haha try again. I grew up on a mixed dairy/ cash crop farm.
So is Epstein still alive and involved with Bitcoin?
if someone says they love something and they have never done it, they don’t love it. they can’t. they don’t understand that lifestyle. trump has much a clue about farming as he does quantum physics.
but it’s not trump’s fault, it’s our systems fault. our system allows for a temporary god with nearly zero accountability. we’re back to divine rulers given our system’s rules.
Systems has nothing to do with it…
The American people – collectively speaking, are simply ignorant and stupid. The rest of the world has been laughing at us for quite some time, and now it is out in the open. How else can one explain the constituents who put these “elected officials” in office on a routinely basis?
Nah, Trump is at fault for anything negative he does or any mistake he makes, just like any of the rest of us.
I don’t like the idea of “the system” absolving people of accountability, there isn’t a “perfect system” out there.
You think farmers would understand the concept of reaping what they showed a bit better.
Zing!
Stupid SHOULD hurt.
Why did farm country vote for this idiot in the first place?
It’s like we repopulated middle America with face-eating leopards.
They undoubtedly understood that Trump’s tariffs were likely to bite them in the ass, so they must have other (cultural) reasons. You know, the ones you disregard and scoff at and can’t imagine are important to anyone. They set aside their own economic self interest because of – to them – more important issues.
He told them a bunch of lies that they bought hook, line and sinker. I live out here. Only the real losers are freaking out about trans stuff. The rest genuinely believed he’d make things better.
Thats a good point. A lot probably thought the economy would boom under Trump. I’m still waiting for him to tax hedge fund managers’ carried interest as normal income and force pharma to sell drugs in the US for no more than what they charge elsewhere. Those unfulfilled promises are now 10+ years old. Don’t disregard cultural issues, though.
Yes, they were very concerned about the west wing of the White House, the Trump-Kennedy Center and the Arch de Trump. Farmers have their priorities.
But let me get this straight (pun intended), farmers hated DEI but are now asking to be treated special? Lol.
They are special. Without them, we all starved to death. It’s a astonishing how farmers get put down and treated given how important they are to keeping us all alive.
Most of the stuff I eat comes from overseas so they are not keeping me alive. I get my lamb from NZ or Australia, my beef from Japan. Rice from Thailand (jasmine), Sushi stuff from Japan or Korea, etc. I bake my own bread and use imported wheat. I eat fruits and veggies that generally don’t come from the US, most from Mexico or South America.
The only thing I love US made are Campari tomatoes, made in Texas. That’s the one concession I make to American (Texan) farmers.
I don’t eat Frankenstein crops using genetically modified plants except maybe those tomatoes.
But to be clear, I’m not putting down farmers, just American dumb ones.
Those are farmers.
I don’t disregard Sentient’s point. Cultural issues are powerful and even if they May be or seem illogical, they are no less powerful for it. Its pretty clear by now that democrats have come across as very condescending to many people and it has cost them.
Condescending dems have been replaced by sociopath child rapists and people that don’t care about the constitution or rule of law.
Its not a trade off I endorse of course. But Trump will not be beaten by a party that ignores the weaknesses that have cost it elections before.
USA – United Stooopids of America
It would be interesting to know what those cultural issues were and how they were so impacted by them.
Well, one of them. – possibly the biggest one – could be a preference for a male President.
This article is full of them complaining and acting surprised, LOL. You guys are just perpetually surprised aren’t you?
“I’m going to bankrupt my family because of trans people in sports” LOL fucking dumbest idea in the world
It pisses me off equally that the democrats made men in women’s sports a major thing. This affects maybe hundreds of people, and it’s also wrong and stupid to anyone that understands anything about biology, or looks at who the champions are in sports where trans women are allowed.
It’s like the WANTED the jimbobs to not vote for them.
Amen to that. Politically the stupidest thing ever.
“This affects maybe hundreds of people”
Agreed. So why anybody who votes based on this policy is really doesn’t have their priorities in order.
If that is the reason, then double fuck them.
They deserve every inch of the spiked stick that is being shoved up their asses.
This is what happens when you are mesmerized into following the MAGA cult. Raise the flag high, and make America great again. “Die Fahne hoch” ([diː ˈfaːnə hoːx], ‘The Flag Raised High’), was the anthem of the Nazi Party.
Well the talking heads on CNBC are all depressed. AI was carrying the country and it’s starting to fall apart. The recession is here. I’m calling it.
Perhaps you just need an “America is Back” hat to convince you otherwise.
“America is Back..To The Great Depression”
Well, they were shooting for the confederacy, so I suppose it’s not as bad as it could be.
Agreed. Today’s the day.
Yes. Today – with the expiration of New SALT II – is literally the first day since 1962 that the US and Russia have no extant treaty whatsoever regarding nuclear weapons. That is a Trump fuckup that trumps his other fuckups. A new and expanding arms race is likely to ensue, something our entire political structure (both parties) has effectively embraced.
You know, I’ve had this nuclear suspense for my whole goddamn life, and I’m tired of it. Let’s get this done… I’m looking forward to my week or so of survival in the post apocalyptic wasteland.
Just hide under your desk, like you were taught.
I saw a tweet this week claiming Republican Congress people(presumably a majority) are demanding Trump drop all his tariffs before the mid-terms.
Unless he thinks he can steal the mid-terms he better start looking for a graceful way to take the “L” on this issue.
For those that voted for Trump, its time to inflict maximum damage on their economic well being. I hope these people all lose their farms.
Trump is doing his best. Upside, he will be able to buy bankrupted farm land for pennies on the dollar. What’s not to like?
A sad story, but these folks all voted for Trump.
They rather voted pro gun. Pro death penatly. Anti ivg. Anti ltgbtqia.
Glad to see one group standing up to taco’s damaging policies.
These are all “Former leaders” of the agricultural groups. The current leaders are all to afraid to make statements like this.
Sadly, there is another wave of farm bankruptcies about to hit our rural communities.
Soil depleting mono-culture farming of crops that no longer have markets, is paving the way for the bankrupting of the American family farm.
“Trump should increase the tariffs. How can you complain about our president when he’s doing such an amazing job? You people are so ungrateful.” LOL. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going down.
I may GAF about them the day there is no ethanol in the gasoline and no Roundup on the food.
Find a readout of the last Xi/Trump phone conversation
Trump spins it in tweets as China concretely promising to buy as much and more agricultural products than before
The Chinese version doesn’t say that at all
China doesn’t care about the distortion because Trump’s weakness will again be exposed when the reality can’t be hidden and little or nothing is purchased
Why would China reinforce Trump?
Trump tries to break China in stopping shipments of Venezuela’s oil, but China can buy from many other places. Trump doesn’t realize that China bought Venezeulan oil os a support of Venezuela, not as a need. Meanwhile, US and world really don’t want the oil and it is filling up storagr around the world
The article is accurate and presents a problem. The bigger problem is that we have too many farmers and too much machinery per acre. In 10 years, we doubled the speed of farming, which is causing environmental havoc, as seen in part by massive dust storms. AI is about to greatly reduce management time on commercial farms is.
Brazil can increase soy production to the size of Iowa and IL combined within 10 years. Their product is better because of the quality of sunlight. Take away the tariff issues and it’s still, Washington, We Have a Problem.
And the problem is that lobby is all for supporting Farma.
All of Arma, Farma and Pharma.
Degrees of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder:
Compensatory Narcissism:
Deep insecurity and shame underneath. Hypersensitive to criticism. Grandiosity used as armor. More likely to experience anxiety or depression.
Grandiose Narcissism:
Entitlement, arrogance, dominance. Lack of empathy becomes clearer. Exploitative behavior increases. Relationships are transactional.
Malignant Narcissism:
Narcissistic traits + antisocial behavior. Paranoia, aggression, sadism in some cases. Very resistant to treatment. Can be emotionally or psychologically dangerous to others.
Most Usonians, especially the younger, are at the 1st degree. Most of the elite, social or economic, are at the 2nd degree. Epstein’s friends, including the PEDOTUS, are at the 3rd degree.
Farmers and Veterans the two biggest welfare recipients in America.
You never heard tell of Raytheon?
LOL. Thermodynamics is what it is and these are the ONLY “laws” that matter folks. You can kick and scream all you like it’s MATH and science. Welcome to Babylon people. Everyone, and I mean everyone wants to have their cake and eat it. Everyone also wants a subsidy from the printing press (government). It wasn’t so bad when the government people had INTEGRITY, but those days are gone. The MIC is growing stronger again (just like pre-vietnam) and consuming all the resources. Well guess what? GROWING FOOD (especially good food) CONSUMES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF RESOURCES. Good luck!
Sow the wind. Reap the whirlwind, suckers.
Yup – you get what you vote for.
There is an underlying tone of dependence on government in the letter and subsequent information that I do not favor, but that said US agriculture would not be what it is today without government. Farmers have affordable irrigation from reservoirs constructed by government programs and electricity as a result of rural electric associations as examples. Capital costs would be insurmountable for those developments. Farmers are also dependent on either big ag business or government for international trade relations.
The letter in particular is very articulate laying out the failures; i wish it would get more attention in the mainstream media. One important underlying fact not mentioned is what cannot be paid will not be paid. The US government payment decisions are basically influenced if not controlled by financial situation dominated by the deficit and debt service costs. Until that is addressed by congressed, financial issues farmers have will only get worse as they will for all Americans.
The destruction of international markets and relations is a whole other miscreance crated by the pugnacious and arrogant Trump administration. Congress needs to neuter it, and SCOTUS needs to interpret the constitution constraining the wildly abusive assertion of power not granted.
Would you pay your debts or even buy new stuff outright if you could print your own money? The government can and does, that’s why what cannot be paid will be paid, at least nominally, but a wheelbarrow of cash would be needed to buy a loaf of bread. Scratch that, snowflakes don’t eat bread; say, a latte.
Exactly why the dollar convertibility to gold should never have been severed in 1971, it provided the discipline needed to keep the US from printing money to pay bills for items we could not afford.
That is exactly why the dollar convertibility to gold was severed, silly!
The relationship was severed because the great oil fields of East Texas ran dry and the US was going to have to start importing billions of barrels of oil at whatever price the Arabs demanded. The price of gasoline would have to go through the roof, and the standard of living of the American people would collapse. Try running on that platform.
The relationship was severed because the country could not afford to pay for the Great Society programs and the Viet Nam War without excessive borrowing that eroded confidence in the dollar and thus the desire to convert dollars to gold. Nixon actually imposed on the same day, price controls as a failed measure to control expected price inflation. The oil embargo that kicked off the oil crises commenced in October of 1973, more than 2 years after the August 1971 severance of dollar convertibility to gold.
Actually, it was because France, Germany, Switzerland demanded their gold back during the 60s, depleting Fort Knox. Lest this become a trend, as the UK demanded its gold back too, Nixon dithered and closed the gold window, stiffing the marks, including the UK, and keeping their gold, or the proceeds from it. Then he immediately devalued the dollar by 10% to finance the Usonian burgeoning debt.
Why anyone would trust yet another Anglo-Saxon with their gold, after centuries of Perfidious Albion, is beyond me. Alas, the rest is history and here we are.
The United States could raise taxes to pay down its debt. That is the responsibility of controller of the currency. The oil embargo was only possible because the US was no longer a capable oil producer and the Arabs knew that. The oil production collapse preceded both events.
US crude oil production at the time peaked at roughly 11.3 million barrels per day in 1970 while consumption was about 14,7 million BPD. The problem was the import of oil to make up the difference. Rather than let the free market sort out the issues, government stepped in with their new oil at competitive prices and old or existing production and historic pricing. It was a colossal failure because there was no pricing power to fund addition development work in existing fields. There was general production decline in US production until late 1970’s when the TAPS pipeline came online transporting North Slope oil to west coast refineries.
As for raising taxes, yes, that can help but not totally solve the problem. However, increasing tax revenue reduces the amount of remaining capital in private hands for investment in profit producing ventures, hampering growth as a component to the solution.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFRGDA188S
The above link is to a graph showing the upper limit on tax revenues is 20% of GDP and the eyeball average is 17.5%. Per Microsoft Copilot, recent revenue is about 16.9% of GDP. Tariffs are not a solution as the revenue is more than offset by economic slowdown which destroys the associated tax stream as documented by Mish.
wow, this is as bad. but well deserved. They supported him more than anyone and got their lives destroyed.
the craziest thing is he did the same thing in 2018, it hurt them then, they voted for him, and he did it again worse this time. it’s like a domestic abuse dynamic.
So where is the AFBF in all of this? They are after all a 501(c) Tax Exempt Agricultural Organization AND Lobbying Group. What has the President, “Vincent Zippy Duvall” said? Crickets? Has anyone asked WTF is the Headquarters doing in Washington DC of All Places? I know it’s the overwhelming place for Politicians, Bureaucrats and the like, but they know how much about farms? I bet they get a lot of lobbying done however, but not on behalf of the Farmers, but there re-election campaigns and the like I would imagine.
There are nearly 2 Million Farms in the United States! Has anyone thought about consolidating some of these? Wouldn’t it make sense, I don’t know, but typically it does when looking at these numbers in business anyway. Texas alone has over 200,000 of these. Why is the HQ not there? No Lobby? No Favors? Why?
Why does the affiliates exist in ALL 50 States AND Puerto Rico? Why do they all have lobbyist? Who is paying these people? Our Tax-dollars by chance? If so, then let’s eliminate 49 of them, ALL the paid resources Taxpayers also pay for, All the Budgets that they have. All the Very Nic offices closed, and allow the New Lobby, Based in Texas, to Negotiate One On One with the President of AFBF ONLY, as I see no reason to play with the other 49, as that money could ALL be going to the Farms! Those 49 are not needed by the looks of it, so be gone!
This organization can probably be closed, as it appears to be a slush fund to me for lobbyist, Politicians, and Bureaucrats. Can we define “What Value” the AFBF has added over the last 10 Years? How much IN TOTAL (Every Single Line Of Expense). The AFBF doesn’t seem to add value at all, if the Farms are in dismay, and no money is available to them Hmm… but everybody else not in Texas etc.
Maybe there are legitimate answers to all of this, and if so, let’s see it. I don’t, for even a second, buy this crap!!! Not with the crap Washington has been pulling on the American People of late. This is something that needs some serious looking into imo.
You can’t close any of it. We worked for decades to get liberals off the Supreme Court and replace them with conservatives. It worked! We got our Citizen’s United decision! Corporations are people. Campaign contributions are free speech, protected by the 1st amendment to the Constitution. Anyone can bribe Congress with as much money as they want and you or “we” can’t do a damn thing about it. It’s a free market of ideas, you just have to be willing to compete against the giant and wealthy with your vast wealth. Not willing to give millions to people to run for Congress to represent your views? Then stop whining and live with your decisions.
“By placing tariffs on farm inputs — from fertilizer, to farm chemicals, to machinery parts– the Administration’s tariffs have increased prices for farm inputs and have pushed the cost of production well above commodity prices. While we applaud the recent decision to exempt fertilizer imports from tariffs, we question why the government was ever placing tariffs on fertilizer and ask why the Administration has not moved to remove tariffs on all farm inputs. It makes no sense to drive up farm input costs, taking money out of the pockets of America’s farmers.”
That’s the nicest way of calling Trump stupid that I have yet to see.
Farmers voted for hate, bigotry and racism and now they are punished with ruin.
“The house of the wicked will be destroyed, But the tent of the upright will flourish.”
But farmers get zero sympathy from me, they voted for this idiot and now I can invoke my favorite phrase, “You reap what you sow!” and it fits so nicely given the farmer context.
Yep. Farmers are a big part of Trump’s cult. It attracts mostly racists, bigots, and dumbf*cks who let their hate for others overwhelm their common sense. Many still support him as he forces them into bankruptcy. Such is the power of hate.
Most folks here could see this coming and have repeatedly said so once Trump began his tariffs. Except for those that are part of the cult.
Trump got too many voter to just be “ racists, bigots, and dumbf*cks“. If so he would never have won the election. The border was a real issue, and Biden’s handling of inflation / cost of living was politically silly. Enter the DEI fear many people have and Trump could convince enough ‘normal’ voters to overcome Harris, despite being a very poor candidate.
But that doesn’t mean there should not be real consequences for them. You vote for a president that promised to impoverise you, then don’t complain when exactly that happens.
Those who think DEI was in any way an important issue for the country are the definition of “racists, bigots and dumbf*cks”. We had a significant DEI campaign at my last employer and it did nothing but increase sales and reduce staff turnover for pennies on the dollar. But “racists, bigots and dumbf*cks” let Fox News and Charlie Kirk convince them it was somehow “anti-white”.
reminds me of the era of the “prairie populists” in amerikan history. the world over, rural folks are more bigoted, as they are isolated from towns and cities where many people live and work from all over the place, with different accents and skin and hair and clothing……….THIS IS ANTHROPOLOGY 101. nothing new under the sun. Trump is a standard populist racist. only problem is he doesn’t rule some rural county or state. he is commander in chief of a world wide war mongering empire with military bases all over the globe. what could go wrong?
He screwed them twice. Funny part is dems have supported them in hard times. But they never seem to thank them
they were DEMs for ages. until goldwater southern strategy scratched their racism……….
I don’t think farmers should complain. They knew exactly what they were getting with Trump and voted for the full package, that means the good and the bad. Don’t come crying how sad the economic situation is and that other people should be forced to pay for your losses if that very economic situation is driven by your own behaviour (i.e. vote).
farmers and ranchers and energy producers………have always been on the government teat. a good thing imho. like anyone who has an ounce of historical knowledge, all societies are 9 meals away from mayhem and revolution. the romans called it panem et circenses. hint. panem means bread. that’s the farmers job to produce ingredients
It they should be dependent on the government, why not nationalize them? Now you socialise the cost and privatise the gain, so you get the worst of both worlds.
This is to enable corporations to take over Farms.
if you are a marxist, i guess that sounds like a good idea. but we subsidize the food producers forever and ever. same in MOST countries on planet for many centuries.
I am not a marxist. I would not subsidize the farmers. But if for some reason there was no alternative, then I would go all the way and nationalize them. Marxism is bad, but the only thing worse is paying for marxism only for the profits (if any) to be reaped privately.
Just like it is bad to have a free market for investing and taking risks, only for the profits to be socialized.
that is called fascism. corporatism is what mussolini explained.
Everyone is dependent on the government. Capitalism is a government project just as much as socialism is. Capitalism produces better though because it increases competition and liberty. If the government takes over the farms, you’ll get a farmers union where everyone works 9-5 with a pension.