Farmers Are Worse Off and the Agricultural Economy Is Struggling Under Trump and Rollins Arrow

Today, Donald Trump and his Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins hosted a "Celebration of Agriculture" event - but for farmers, the reality of Trump's presidency has been nothing to celebrate. The agricultural economy is struggling and farmers are shouldering lost markets, rising costs, and mounting uncertainty, all because of Trump's erratic tariffs and his war of choice with Iran.

Trump today told farmers, "I just gave you $12 billion… You make enough money. It doesn't matter to you, right? But we just provided $12 billion." But experts say Trump's bailout will not fix the devastating impacts of his trade war, which has caused permanent damage to exports. The majority of farmers will have to use the bailout payments just to pay down debt.

In response, Illinois corn and soybean farmer John Bartman released the following statement:

"Donald Trump can say all he wants that he 'loves farmers' and that he'll 'never do anything to hurt our farmers,' but he has pushed family farms like mine to the brink and the agricultural economy is in shambles. Farming is hard enough as it is, and Trump's reckless policies have made it damn near impossible - and for what? Trump's chaotic tariffs locked farmers out of our markets and now his war of choice in Iran has sent costs even higher. This administration has abandoned American farmers - plain and simple."

In a recent report, a whopping 76% of economists say the crop sector is in a recession, and 74% of producers agreed, as more farmers expect things to get worse over the next year than better. The February 2026 Future Expectations Index for farmers fell to its lowest level since September 2024. And despite Trump bragging about soaring farm income today, the truth is that the USDA forecasts that net farm income will decline this year.

Trump's trade war has locked farmers out of their markets - likely forever - and as a result, the agricultural trade deficit hit a record high in 2025. Family farms went bankrupt at the fastest pace in five years in 2025, spiking by 46% from 2024, alongside record-high farm debt.

Trump's war of choice in Iran has worsened the crisis facing U.S. producers just as we enter the spring planting season. The American Farm Bureau Federation and other major agriculture groups sounded the alarm on Trump's war with Iran in a recent letter, writing, "the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent fuel and fertilizer prices skyrocketing - further straining a farm economy that already had its back against the wall due to record inflation, trade uncertainty, rapidly declining crop prices and catastrophic natural disasters."