Farm country voted for Trump in 2024, but many of his actions – from tariffs to federal cuts – are hurting growers
Donald Trump may have won the votes of the US’s most farming-dependent counties by an average of 78% in the 2024 election. But the moves made by his administration in the past few months – imposing steep tariffs, immigration policies that target the migrant labor farmers rely on, and canceling a wide range of USDA programs – have left many farmers reeling.
“The policies of the Trump administration are wreaking havoc on family farmers. It’s been terrible,” said John Bartman, a row crop farmer in Illinois. Bartman is owed thousands of dollars for sustainable practices he implemented on his row crop operation as part of the USDA’s Climate-Smart program.
