What Washington Must Do To Save American Farmers
- 1 day ago
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Updated: 2 hours ago
Higher Tariffs, Declining Crop Prices, and Supply-Chain Issues Are Making Life Unprofitable for Millions of American Farmers
Op-Ed Written by Jett James Pruitt
Comprising nearly 20 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), agriculture is undeniably a vital pillar of America’s economy and a cornerstone of its national power. For this reason, it is especially problematic that farmers across the nation are facing some of the worst economic conditions in American history.
As per an April 2026 report published by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), 70 percent of U.S. farmers said they cannot afford the sufficient amount of fertilizer they need for planting. A combination of geopolitical factors — including annual inflation, higher tariffs on imported goods, and the economic aftershocks of Operation Epic Fury against Iran — have made the cost of fuel and fertilizer surge across international markets, with total farm production expenses rising by $120 billion since 2020.
Speaking to PBS News, farmer Doug Bartek (who serves as the chairman of the Nebraska Soybean Association) detailed how higher input costs have undermined his ability to remain profitable: “Our biggest struggles are our inputs, be it fertilizer, seed, chemical, parts. There has been so much drastic markup in all of these. And I just kind of feel like the farmer [is] painted in the corner.” Justin Sherlock, another soybean farmer in North Dakota, commented “A lot of producers are pretty nervous going into [2026]. It looks like we’re going to have another year of negative returns.”
Compounding this problem, farmers are bearing the brunt of declining commodity prices due to weaker export demand and a stale domestic market for corn and oilseed-based biofuels. The AFBF reports the market price of wheat, rice, and corn are expected to drop by 26 percent, 32 percent, and 33 percent between 2026 and 2027, respectively. This is also the case for other staple crops such as oats, barley, sorghum, cotton, and peanuts.
Overall, agricultural economists expect further financial losses for farmers in 2027.
To its credit, the Trump administration has enacted numerous measures to alleviate the economic strain on farmers. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) signed by President Trump in July 2025 strengthened farmer safety-net provisions such as the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), Price Loss Coverage (PLC), Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC), and various forms of crop insurance. More recently, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act (FFNSA) aims to facilitate rural development provisions not addressed by the OBBB and enact new interstate commerce protections. The bill has passed the House of Representatives and is currently under review in the Senate. On an international basis, the Trump administration has pushed to diversify farm export markets and eliminate trade barriers on American agricultural products within emerging economies such as El Salvador and Bangladesh.
Despite this, the Trump administration is arguably beating around the bush with respect to the biggest drag on American farmers: China.
For decades, China has deliberately sought to undercut the economic vitality of American farmers, including by providing illegal bailouts to its domestic farmers in 2016 as part of an effort to deflate crop prices for U.S. grain farmers; acquiring large swathes of American agricultural land to push-out local farmers; stealing patented corn seeds; and distorting market conditions by deliberately placing massive orders for U.S. grain shipments, and then delaying or outright canceling them to force U.S. prices to drop. While Trump’s tariffs have not necessarily helped U.S. farmers or rectified these unfair practices, they were initially enacted as a means to shield America’s agricultural industry from market manipulation.
Most recently, China has retaliated against Trump’s tariffs by shifting purchases of soybeans and cotton to Brazil. This move is expected to steepen losses for U.S. farmers, who will lose $138 an acre on soybeans, $145 an acre on wheat, and $406 an acre on cotton in 2027.
In a publicized letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence William Pulte, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) asserted on July 21, 2026 that “China’s growing footprint in global agriculture is a deliberate, strategic effort to dominate food production and supply chains in ways that threatens American farmers and food security. Chinese state-backed money is remaking the hemisphere’s ports and reshaping grain routes to Asia.” He elaborated “For states like Arkansas, where agriculture is the number one industry, the consequences are real. Chinese state-owned companies now have direct access to Brazilian farmers, purchasing their soybeans and overseeing the entire commercialization chain, including storage and transport to China, effectively locking in a supply chain that bypasses American producers entirely.”
It is uncertain whether lawmakers such as Cotton will successfully compel the administration to further check China in key geostrategic regions such as Latin America and South Asia.
Nevertheless, it is abundantly clear American farmers can no longer afford to bear the brunt of China’s economic subversion against the U.S. Thus, in addition to providing assistance to farmers and stabilizing production costs, Washington must pressure Beijing to the negotiating table and exhaust every legal instrument to hold the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable as part of its effort to save rural America from the brink of economic calamity.
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Jett James Pruitt is a Native American, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of the bestselling book THROUGH THE EYES OF A YOUNG AMERICAN. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheGenZPost.com and a political strategist specializing in Generation Z voter trends. He is currently a B.A. International Politics student at The University of London Institute in Paris. His next book, THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE: What America's Political Parties Must Do To Win Over Generation Z, will be released in major bookstores worldwide in early 2027.
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