Farmers are a reliable base of support for Trump: US counties that most heavily rely on farming supported Trump by more than 77%, on average, in the 2024 election, according to data compiled by Investigate Midwest.<\/p>\n
Most of the aid will go to the Agriculture Department\u2019s new Farmer Bridge Assistance programme, created to support American crop farmers, a White House official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans before they were made public.<\/p>\n
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that officials are \u201cworking to best understand\u201d how to help farmers with specialty crops as well, noting that the Administration is holding back US$1b from an originally anticipated US$12b package.<\/p>\n
The funding will come from tariff revenue, Trump said during a roundtable event to announce the aid package, adding that the farm aid \u201cwould not be possible\u201d without the tariffs. <\/p>\n
He blamed the financial burdens for farmers on President Joe Biden and touted Chinese imports of US soybeans resuming.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaximising domestic farm production is a big part of how we will make America affordable again and bring down grocery prices for American families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump released US$16b in aid to farmers during his first term amid Chinese retaliation for a less-sweeping round of tariffs.<\/p>\n
The President said the Administration plans to help bring down the cost of farm equipment by removing \u201cenvironmental restrictions\u201d that he argued have raised the cost of production.<\/p>\n
Republicans in Congress praised the President\u2019s announcement. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (South Dakota) called it a \u201cstrong step forward\u201d in a statement on X.<\/p>\n
Farmers nationwide have been grappling with low crop prices and challenging tariffs that have pushed many into bankruptcy. <\/p>\n
As the Washington Post reported in October, about 181 farmers filed for bankruptcy protection in the first half of the year, a 60% increase from the previous year and the highest six-month reading since 2020, according to US court records.<\/p>\n
The American Soybean Association said in a statement that soybean farmers nationwide have \u201cfaced a perfect storm of low crop prices, high production costs, and loss of markets\u201d and that the White House\u2019s aid programme will help farmers deal with carried debt from the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we await additional details, we believe the Farmer Bridge Assistance Programme is a positive first step to restore certainty as soybean farmers market this year\u2019s crop and plan for the 2026 planting season,\u201d said ASA President Caleb Ragland, a farmer from Kentucky.<\/p>\n
An ASA member and Indiana soybean farmer, Tyler Everett, was part of the roundtable at the White House.<\/p>\n
American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall said in a statement that the nation\u2019s farmers \u201chave been hit from every direction during this economic storm\u201d and that the package \u201cwill make an immediate impact by providing a lifeline for farmers who work to ensure a healthy, safe and abundant food supply\u201d.<\/p>\n
Other farmers groups were encouraged by the Trump announcement but said more needed to be done to support the nation\u2019s agricultural sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cShort-term payments, while important, are only a first step. What we truly need are long-term structural fixes that restore viability and stability to family farms and ranches for generations to come,\u201d National Farmers Union president Rob Larew said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn real-time, we are experiencing the consequences of farm policy that is woefully outdated. The farm safety net can\u2019t keep up with today\u2019s economic realities. <\/p>\n
\u201cInput costs remain high, trade relationships are uncertain, access to affordable healthcare is in danger and the stress on rural communities continues to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Trump\u2019s tariffs on China prompted the country to halt purchases of US soybeans.<\/p>\n
Then the President offered a US$20b bailout to Argentina, whose soybean crop sales to China have replaced those from US farmers. <\/p>\n
Later, Trump said that the US would buy beef from Argentina to bring down prices for US consumers, opening a new rift between Trump and cattle ranchers.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s commitment to helping Argentina and its embattled President, Javier Milei \u2013 a political ally \u2013 appeared at odds with his \u201cAmerica First\u201d policy platform, raising rare objections from some in his base, even as many say they still trust Trump to act in their best interest.<\/p>\n
The new assistance package is particularly aimed at helping soybean farmers, who have seen a precipitous drop in sales this year, as the price of soybeans fell, leaving them with extra supply.<\/p>\n
After trade talks with Chinese leaders in late October, the Trump Administration said China had promised to resume soybean purchases and would increase its 2026 soybean purchases.<\/p>\n
China also reported a massive US$1 trillion trade surplus, indicating that the Administration\u2019s efforts to rebalance global trade with the superpower have not shifted the world economy yet.<\/p>\n
A Purdue University survey published on December 2 \u2013 which measures the health of the national agricultural economy \u2013 found that farmers feel more optimistic about the future after that late October trade pact between China and the US. <\/p>\n
Producers in November were also more optimistic about their farms\u2019 financial performance than a month earlier, according to the survey \u2013 partly because of a rise in crop prices from mid-October to mid-November.<\/p>\n
While Republicans voiced their support for the President\u2019s farm aid package, Democrats in Congress said the answer wasn\u2019t to send more assistance to farmers \u2013 it was to roll back the tariffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we need to help farmers who have been hurt by the President\u2019s across-the-board tariffs, ultimately farmers want trade \u2013 not aid,\u201d Senator Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe easiest way to give our farmers more certainty would be for the President to end his tariff taxes. This assistance will clearly benefit some farmers now, but a one-time payment is not a long-term fix \u2013 only restoring these markets can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Representative Jonathan Jackson (D-Illinois), who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, said he understands why soybean growers are happy to get some relief. <\/p>\n
Illinois is the top soybean producer in the US, and Jackson noted that many soybean growers voted for Trump, hoping that he would solve their economic challenges. But Jackson argued that the President is seeking to put a band-aid on a problem he caused. <\/p>\n
Jackson estimated that farmers \u201care going to need hundreds of billions of dollars\u201d to make it out of the current crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a scorched-earth policy that has been ill-conceived and now poorly executed, and this is only the start of the bailout process,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHad [Trump] stayed out of imposing tariffs and out of making our products too expensive to be exported, we would be in a better position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson also noted that lawmakers have not been briefed on details about the tariff money that is being used for this package \u2013 even though Congress appropriates federal funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve not voted on it. It didn\u2019t come through the Agriculture Committee,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you look at Article I in the Constitution for tariffs, that\u2019s under the sole discretion of the United States Congress, so he\u2019s just acting impetuously and creating chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n
– David J. Lynch and Matt Viser contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Farmers are a reliable base of support for Trump: US counties that most heavily rely on farming supported…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[112366,696,112367,50327,8613,31123,2852,138,80561,2178,8449,219,12967,793,71,1437,7237,305,23500,220,111,139,69,1118,22367,2850,10269,2572,18661,9361,112368,9939,583,223,1865,2179,9938,3040,112365],"class_list":["post-174914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-19b","tag-announced","tag-assistance","tag-attempting","tag-billion","tag-blunt","tag-burden","tag-business","tag-constituency","tag-donald","tag-ease","tag-economy","tag-farmers","tag-felt","tag-from","tag-global","tag-governments","tag-have","tag-impact","tag-markets","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-package","tag-pain","tag-policies","tag-president","tag-pushes","tag-relief","tag-remake","tag-states","tag-tariff","tag-the","tag-today","tag-trump","tag-united","tag-us","tag-us11"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}