Trump Makes Midterm Pitch to Farmers — SkimNews
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- Trump unveiled an $8 billion farmer aid package at a Kansas rally Monday on behalf of Sen. Roger Marshall's reelection bid, with one-time payments designed to cushion diesel and fertilizer costs driven by the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz disruption.
- Former USDA chief economist Joe Glauber called the bailout a temporary "Band-Aid fix" that won't address the underlying fuel-cost problem, noting government payments now account for roughly 30% of net farm income.
- American farmers are carrying record-high farm debt above $600 billion—more than double the level two decades ago—amid rising bankruptcy filings and stubborn input costs from energy and trade shocks.
- Purdue University's Ag Economy Barometer found only 48% of farmer respondents believed the U.S. is headed in the "right direction" in September, a sharp drop from 74% in July 2025, with more than half citing higher input costs as a top concern.
- The American Farm Bureau Federation issued a notably muted welcome, with President Zippy Duvall acknowledging the package without offering broader political praise.
- U.S. agriculture funding was already expected to reach about $55 billion in 2026, including an $11 billion request still pending in Congress, underscoring the sector's deepening reliance on federal support.
Why it matters: Farmers, long a reliable GOP base, are now a political vulnerability: farm debt has hit a record $600 billion and farmer confidence cratered from 74% to 48% in just two months. The $8 billion buyout helps Trump shore up midterm races in states like Kansas and Texas, but with government payments funding 30% of net farm income, the sector's structural dependence on Washington is becoming impossible to ignore.
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