ICYMI: Jon Husted’s Reckless Tariffs are Wreaking Havoc on Ohio Farmers

ICYMI: Jon Husted's Reckless Tariffs are Wreaking Havoc on Ohio Farmers

November 4, 2025

"Soybean farmers will face a net operating loss of about $100 per acre this year"

Columbus, Ohio - Ohio soybean farmers are in crisis thanks to Jon Husted's reckless tariffs, which are wreaking havoc on markets and sending prices soaring. Husted has said that critics "are wrong" about the tariffs, they "haven't affected the economy negatively," and "the policies are working."

See for yourself:

Spectrum News 1: Soybean farmers react to China trade deal

• [..] with this year's soybean harvest already in the books, China has agreed to buy only about half of what it normally would in a year.

• Combined with higher costs and lower crop prices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates soybean farmers will face a net operating loss of about $100 per acre this year.

Dayton Daily News: Area farmers react to China's pledge to buy U.S. soybeans

• Brian Harbage, whose farm in Clark County's South Charleston is 50% soybeans, hesitated to proclaim the deal a complete win for the soybean industry.

• "[…] we're not going to catch up for this year because they haven't bought any up to this date and now they're coming to the table late," Harbage said. "They can't physically buy enough between now and the end of the year to make up for the losses of this year."

• Darke County's Brehm said he questions if the price at which U.S. farmers can sell soybeans will return to previous levels. Soybean prices neared the $18-per-bushel mark in 2012 and reached $16 per bushel in 2021.

• Brehm said what he fears is the price of soybeans increasing by a few dollars and then seed and fertilizer companies raising their prices in response.

• "Then it kind of puts us back to square one," he said. "That's the whole problem. That's like when he was talking about another bailout for us, I was sure hoping he wasn't going to do that, because that was just another license for the fertilizer companies, chemical companies, everybody else, to steal from us, because then they say, 'OK, they (farmers) got all this money as a bailout, now we don't have to really be competitive. We'll just charge what we want."

###