Individuals rely on 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 greater than ever, as agriculture faces a number of the most important challenges in generations.
Within the years for the reason that 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 gas, 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 practically 46%.
In the meantime, overseas rivals proceed to flood world markets with sponsored 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 Might, the Agriculture Division forecast that the 2025 commerce deficit will enhance to $49.5 billion. It’s a nationwide safety threat. When America loses management of its meals provide, we turn out to be extra reliant on nations that won’t 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 every single place really feel the impact. Greater manufacturing prices and fewer home farms imply greater 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 overseas rivals to realize 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, overseas dependencies and better costs” within the USDA’s just lately launched Nationwide Farm Safety Motion Plan.
It is a slow-moving disaster, but it surely’s not one we’re powerless to resolve. The America First Coverage Institute’s Farmers First Agenda requires making vital enhancements to the farm security internet. A modernized security internet will match in the present day’s challenges, guarantee farmers can higher climate market swings, and push again in opposition to cheaters. With the precise insurance policies, we will stabilize markets and assist hold household farms in enterprise.
By way of 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 comparable 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 mirror the real-world challenges they face.
Leif Larson is a media marketing consultant and strategist. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
