Thank you sir, may I have another!

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I do a lot of work with farmers and the farming community. They were all-in for our Dear Leader (mostly)-you know, the guy with the giant banner of his face on the Department of Agriculture. Farmers are a funny bunch. For the most part, they don't talk much to non-farmers and it took a long time for me to gain the trust of many of the folks I engage with. They forgot what happened during Trump's mis-administration the first time around, despite my pointed warnings. Well, I hate to say I told you so, but I did tell you so. Now they're getting screwed at every turn. Visas for the seasonal workers they rely on? Forget about it. The workers they use year--round? Scooped up in raids or afraid to come to work. Grow soy beans? Sorry, China (who used to buy your entire crop) just ain't buying it anymore. This is particularly tough because this time of year a farmer would just load up a couple of trucks and drive them to the port and leave with a big fat check. That would pay off whatever loans they had for the year and send them to a warmer climate for a couple of months until it was time to come home and do it all again. Now, a lot of the farmers who make their living growing actual food crops and selling them at urban tailgate markets-first can't get the labor to pick their crops and when they get to the markets, have lost 25% of their income that came from customers using SNAP benefits. Oops. Oh, and let's throw in the fact that we're in a two-year drought, fueled by climate change-you know that giant scam Trumps been telling you about. Are we great yet? I just don't get the psychology of sticking with their support of this guy. Just hit me again because it feels so good when you stop.

[Emile]

1. The farmer down the road quit farming, and now

is raising cattle.

Now Trump suggests US will buy Argentine beef to bring down prices for American consumers. LOL

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

2. I forgot to add that!

Hit me again, please! America First! Except when its not.

[markodochartaigh]

3. Surely they can take comfort in knowing

that what happened under Reagan will surely happen again. Hedge funds and private equity will show up to buy their farms at auction. The Invisible Hand of the Market always has the final word! Surely they will be relieved not having to bow their heads and take a government bailout, most of which has in the past gone to the well-connected hedge fund owned corporate farms anyway.

In the immortal words of Earl Butz, "Get big or get out!"

[Ritabert]

4. Vance and probably others have an investment in a farm selling company

And they're not restricting it to American buyers.

[Midnight Writer]

5. They know the new owners will hire them to work on their corporate farm. They may pull down up to $10 per hour.

[Raftergirl]

6. Who are the new owners going to sell soybeans too? Most of the soybeans farms are already owned by

agribusiness already. They have no one to sell to either.

[Laxman]

7. A Recent Article In Today's NY Times.....

makes this very point. Farmers in Iowa are being assailed from multiple fronts, many of which are attributable to Trump's insane trade and economic policies.

Since siding with Barack Obama twice, Iowa has become a stronghold for Mr. Trump. Yet perhaps no state has struggled more with his economic policies. During the first quarter of 2025, Iowa’s gross domestic product dropped by 6.1 percent, more than any other state aside from neighboring Nebraska.

Manufacturing, which drives 17 percent of Iowa’s economic output, has been hit with higher production costs in part because of steep tariffs on inputs like aluminum and steel. Meatpacking plants, which help make Iowa the nation’s leading pork producer, rely heavily on foreign-born workers, hundreds of thousands of whom saw their legal status stripped away by the president. Mr. Trump’s war on renewable energy also threatens the wind industry that produces more than half of Iowa’s electricity.

Some of the state’s troubles, like bad weather, high interest rates, an aging and shrinking rural population, and global commodity prices, are beyond the president’s control. But new economic policies have magnified the state’s woes, according to economists, agricultural groups and some business leaders.

a very interesting read, but also quite frustrating. Stockholm syndrome?