U.S. farmers who voted for Trump are feeling the pain from shutdown of federal programs
During the 2024 presidential election, farming-dependent counties overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump. Almost 78% endorsed his most recent presidential run, and a similar — albeit slightly smaller — percentage backed Trump in 2020.But President Trump’s early 2025 policies are hurting farming communities. And now, some of those voters may be regretting their decision.
Since taking office, President Trump has effectively shut down USAID, a program designed to provide humanitarian relief abroad, causing immediate impact to USAID workers and struggling communities overseas.
But as PBS NewsHour reveals, the pain is being felt on home soil, too by farmers, too, as USAID buys roughly $2 billion of products from farmers every year, it’s also caused a world of distress for U.S. farmers
Roughly 86% of the companies that have contracts with USAID are American, according to aid data company DevelopmentAid. USAID Stop-Work, a group tracking the impact of the recent shutdown, says USAID contractors report laying off nearly 13,000 American workers, including those affiliated with a program at the Soybean Innovation Lab which has opened international markets to U.S. farmers.
In addition to shuttering USAID, the Trump administration has frozen a number of USDA programs, putting billions of dollars in loans and grants promised to farmers at risk, including renewable energy programs and programs promoting new crops.
Now farmers who invested thousands of dollars in crops, solar energy and other initiatives upfront expecting money back are frustrated. That includes farmers like Travis Forgues, who invested in a new solar array to power his operation.
“You can’t have people spend this kind of money and then just pull the rug,” Travis Forgues told Midwest Investigates. “I didn’t spend the money thinking maybe I’ll get it back. I spent the money because we had a signed contract.”
Tariffs and immigration laws hit farmers, too.
Farmers are also feeling an outsized impact from the Trump administration’s policies on tariffs and undocumented immigrants.
Chuck Nicholson, associate professor of agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison, told Wisconsin Public Radio that the combination of tariffs and deportations "will pose some pretty significant economic challenges for the farmers of Wisconsin and the U.S. generally."
Equipment that U.S. farmers rely on is often imported. Adding tariffs to the costs of equipment imported from China, Mexico, Canada and other countries will squeeze American farmers.
In addition, the U.S. imports 80% of its potash — used in fertilizer — from Canada. American farmers would have to recoup the 25% extra they would pay in tariffs on Canadian products. The end results of these costs may be passed onto consumers in higher prices.
Trump’s tariffs could also trigger retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products in other countries, as they did during his first administration, hurting prices and international demand for products like soybeans, pork, and dairy.
U.S. farmers voted for Trump are feeling the pain from shutdown of federal programs Where do they go from here?
U.S. farmers are in a huge bind, and it could impact consumers, too.
