In Tuesday's Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Senator Reverend Warnock questioned American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall on the impact President Trump's tariff policy is having on Georgia farmers

The Trump administration's tariff policies are raising input costs, reducing market access, and hurting Georgia's farmers

Fertilizer prices are 10-15 percent higher in 2026 than they were in 2025, in part, due to tariffs

Senator Reverend Warnock: "The President's tariff taxes have increased the cost of everything farmers need - like fertilizer, fuel, and equipment - and it's eroding the very slim margins that they already had left"

Watch Senator Reverend Warnock at Tuesday's Agriculture Committee hearing HERE

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) questioned American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall on the impact President Trump's tariff policy is having on Georgia farmers. Thanks to the president's haphazard trade agenda, Georgia farmers are facing higher prices for essential materials like fertilizer and farming equipment, as well as reduced access to overseas markets. President Trump's policies are having a particularly negative effect on Georgia's specialty crop producers, many of whom are being undercut in domestic markets due to cheaper international supply.

"The President's tariff taxes have increased the cost of everything farmers need - like fertilizer, fuel, and equipment - and it's eroding the very slim margins that they already had left," said Senator Reverend Warnock. "The President's tariff taxes have made a tough business even tougher."

After taking office in January 2025, President Trump imposed tariffs on almost all of the United States' trading partners. In February, after the Supreme Court ruled against the administration's tariff policy, President Trump quickly reimposed a 15 percent global flat tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Recently, Senator Warnock cosponsored legislation that would repeal Section 122 and prevent President Trump, or any other president, from levying tariffs for balance-of-payment reasons. The higher costs associated with the administration's trade policy have tightened farmers' already slim margins and contributed to a rise in farm bankruptcies across the country.

Senator Warnock continues to push back against the Trump administration's reckless tariff policy and the uncertain market conditions it creates for Georgia farmers. As a veteran member of the Senate committee overseeing federal agriculture policies, and the ranking member of the Finance Subcommittee on Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness, Senator Warnock is vigilant in defending programs that help Georgia farmers keep more profits in their pockets and keep the industry at the frontlines of Georgia's success.

Watch the Senator's full remarks HERE. See excerpts of the exchange below:

Senator Reverend Warnock (SRW): "Thank you, Brother chair."

"Look, I'm all for helping our farmers sell their crops across the country, and coming from the state of Georgia, I certainly support any efforts to strengthen and bolster the hands of our cotton growers. But we're talking about increasing American markets today, in part because international markets have been decimated by the President's tariffs."

"We need our growers to be able to sell here in the United States, certainly, but we also need them to be able to sell globally, and the President's tariffs taxes, which is what it is, taxes have increased the cost of everything farmers need - like fertilizer, fuel and equipment - and it's eroding the very slim margins that they already had left. It's a tough business."

"I spend a lot of time with our farmers all across the state, and I admire people who are just really committed to that work. Farmers, for me, are an answer to a basic prayer that we Christians pray all the time: 'Give us this day our daily bread', and the margins are thin. There's so much that you can't control. The President's tariff taxes have made a tough business even tougher."

"Mr. Duvall, it's good to see you again. Always good to see you, and thank you again for your leadership, first over the Georgia Farm Bureau and now the American Farm Bureau. Now that we're approaching a year into the tariffs, what's the latest that you're hearing from farmers about the effects on their business since last April?"

AFBF President Zippy Duvall (ZD): "Well, it's been very difficult for our farmers because it has raised the cost of inputs. Some have been exempted, not all, but the loss of markets - we lost some markets in first trade war that we never recouped. Now we're very appreciative of the work the administration has done in opening up some of that market, but we've now, we haven't gotten back to the place that we were in the first trade war."

"So, we've had promises of frameworks of trade treaties all over the country, all over the world. Understand, eight of them have been closed, so we're very appreciative of that. But until we see ships leaving the dock with our products in it, going to a destination, our farmers are not going to find any relief. And when it comes to fruits and vegetables, you know, and you want to talk about USMCA, and we're coming up on a review, it is so important for us to renew that, but it's so important for us to have something like a rapid response technique to be able to deal with the flooding or dumping of products from other countries."

"You know, we - our fruits and vegetable guys - are devastated, because when they go into production, these other countries will dump product in there and just destroy the market, and it takes it below the cost of production for our specialty crops. The other plaything is we need to emphasize the importance of our federal government when they should purchase foods, that they purchase American grown food, and we have to protect those markets so that we give farmers certainty that they can stay in business produce fruits and vegetables."

"You realize that our school system, 94% of the fruits that served in our school system come from out of country, 94%, 53% of them vegetables. Why? Because we probably can't. We don't have the producers producing it because there's no certainty there. They don't have any risk management tools. They're there, and there's no protection from dumping from other countries. And those things need to be solved before we can get the certainty out there and bring young people and farmers back into the business of producing specialty crops."

SRW: "Well, absolutely. And you know, as a ranking member on trade for the Finance Committee, I'll be taking a close look at USMCA."

"On the other hand, you know, I think it would help if we could get a Farm Bill, a bipartisan farm bill, passed through this Congress. I was glad to see that the USDA admitted that farmers have been hurt by the President's tariffs. It's one thing to have a theory of the case. The President clearly has a theory of the case. He's had it about 30 years, not sure that he's responding to facts on the ground, but now that we're beginning to hear from farmers, they've admitted as much by providing a bridge payment program. But I was - and I would point out that farmers, while they appreciate the bridge payment program, what I'm hearing from farmers all the time - and Senator Grassley said the same thing, 'we want trade, not aid'. But here we are. I was disappointed to see that only $1 million of the $12 million was dedicated for specialty crop farmers. As a former president of the Georgia Farm Bureau, you know, as well as anyone how important specialty crops are, like blueberries, peaches and peppers."

"What's your view on how much of the funding is going to specialty crop farmers based on your understanding of their specific market conditions? I know I'm running out of time. Mr. Chair."

ZD: "$1 million doesn't even come close to covering the losses that we had in specialty crop and like in other programs that are there to protect producers, specialty crops do not have those risk management tools, and they don't get the attention that they need, because in this country, the consumers want more and more of those fruits and vegetables in the compound but the problem is the lack of labor. It's a lot more labor intense. We don't have the labor to actually get out in the field, pick it, harvest it, and get it to the stores."

SRW: "So across the board, tariffs putting pressure on farmers, and immigration policy that is so unforgiving that you're struggling with labor and now we're facing USMCA, all of these make for a difficult mix for our farmers."

"I think we need to center the farmers if I hear what you're saying, and then we have a chance of getting the policy right. Thank you so very much for your work, and thanks to all of the witnesses."

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