Friday, May 15, 2026

Trump’s policies are turning farmers against the GOP

Trump’s policies are turning farmers against the GOP

 https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/15/800039284/news/trump-farmers-outrage-economy-gop/

Trump’s policies are turning farmers against the GOP

by Emily Singer
Staff
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Devon Wells, a junior at Perry Central High School, walks across Halo Farms, where he works, on March 12, 2025, in Perry, N.Y.
Attribution: APA young farmer walks across a yard.

Farmers were all-in on President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, with more than three-quarters of voters in farming communities casting a ballot for him—an increase from four years earlier.

However, since he took office, many of Trump’s policy decisions have hit farmers particularly hard. His cruel immigration raids have left farmers unable to find the labor needed to plant and grow their crops. His inflationary tariffs and Iran war have raised the price of fertilizer, farm equipment, and the diesel fuel that powers that machinery. As a result, farm bankruptcies have skyrocketed.

And farmers’ pain could be a disaster for Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.

A poll released Friday by Amato Advisors and Farm Journal finds that a plurality of farmers (24%) primarily blame the Trump administration for their farming woes.

What’s more, farmers almost universally believe that Trump’s war of choice in Iran will harm their business, with a whopping 94% saying the conflict will raise their input costs.

But worst of all for the GOP, the poll finds 39% of farmers are considering abandoning the Republican Party in the midterms—whether that be by voting for Democrats, voting for a third party, or staying home.

In this Friday, Oct. 18, 2019, photo Ervin Buse drives a combine down a row of soybeans at Terry Hayhurst's farm in southwest Vigo County, Ind.
Attribution: APA farmer drives a combine down a row of soybeans in Indiana.

That kind of falloff would be a catastrophe for the GOP in a state like Iowa, where Republicans are defending the governorship, a Senate seat, and four congressional districts.

Iowa ranks third among states with the highest percentage of farmers, according to agricultural news outlet Lancaster Farming, with roughly 5% of the population being farmers. 

The sagging economy and its impact on farmers has caused Trump’s approval to fall to a dismal 42% in the Hawkeye State, according to Civiqs’ tracking poll. That is so low that the GOP is sweating that it could lose the two statewide races and as many as three of the four House contests.

Indeed, Iowa’s governor’s race and two of its four House districts are rated toss-ups by the Cook Political Report, while the Senate race and another House seat are rated likely Republican contests.

At the end of the day, while the Amato Advisors/Farm Journal poll finds farmers are a Republican voting bloc in general, Trump’s policies have so hurt the farming industry that the group appears not to be motivated to vote this fall. And therein lies the danger for Republicans, who rely on rural areas for electoral success.

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  1. Comment by Ralphdog.

    I'll believe it when I see it.

    I take care of lots of farmers in my rural medical practice. Wonderful people, hard working, salt of the earth.

    Also, sadly, as racist as the day is long, gladly buying into vicious anti-immigrant rhetoric about 'rapists and criminals' despite the obvious reality that their workforce is overwhelmingly composed of the very Hispanic immigrants Republicans are demonizing. I've never understood this. Whenever I mention the disconnect, I usually get a puzzled look and then "Well, not *my* Mexicans. Mine are good workers".

    Sheesh.

  2. Comment by Mercy Ormont.

    24% is not a plurality!

    As for farmers abandoning Trump: I'll believe it when I see it.

    • Reply by OrdinaryIowan.

      It’s so disappointing that only 24% of Iowa farmers want to toss Trump over the side. You’d really have to be mentally impaired to not realize that his trade embargoes and Illegal war are the prime movers of tha current wave of farm bankruptcies. Even so, Iowa farmers obediently line up to vote for this dumbass because, well, “l could never vote for a Democrat.” A hundred years ago, it was a Democrat who rescued your granddaddies and the dirt you’re standing on - do you think Trump would give even a fraction of a fuck about doing something similar now?

    • Reply by Everything Old Is New Again.

      Indeed that is disappointing. It's hard for folks to admit they were wrong, especially if they were wrong multiple times. But if even a decent percentage of that 24% decide to stay home, it's going to make a huge difference in many areas.

      And the worst economic consequences of the current idiocies are yet to come, so who knows.

    • Reply by liberalchristian.

      Trump destroyed their markets in his first term and they supported him more in 2024. Masochist!!

  3. Comment by spockbot.

    Yeah, I’m going to file this story right up there with all the “Texas/Florida is about to turn blue” fantasies we’ve been hearing about got the past 15 years.

  4. Comment by javax2.

    trump’s policies are pushing some farmers away from him, yet many will still back the party they believe harms America, as long as they benefit personally. The “Farm Bill” feels like nothing more than a subsidy. I understand farming is vital to the health of the economy, but when you strip it down, it’s less about farming and more about corporate welfare.

    From equipment manufacturers to seeds, chemicals, fuel, commodities, produce, and even land, some players get special treatment, speculators cash in, and consumers end up footing the bill with rising costs.

  5. Comment by BobRR.

    No sympathy. Farmers who voted for Trump also voted to cut food stamps, Obamacare and Medicaid for the rest of us. SCREW 'EM.

    • Reply by MChalupa.

      The Obama care most likely affected them also. Food stamps effect them, customers...

  6. Comment by Odysseus.

    "But worst of all for the GOP, the poll finds 39% of farmers are considering abandoning the Republican Party in the midterms—whether that be by voting for Democrats, voting for a third party, or staying home."

    -------------

    I will believe it when I see it.

  7. Comment by kamrom.

    We tried to warn them.

  8. Comment by Sisterskeeper.

    The fact that they are suffering all of these hardships and yet still threatening to ‘vote 3rd party or not vote at all’ seems like they still have no clue that they in fact have been their own worst enemies.

    • Reply by Mercy Ormont.

      Yes, it's clueless. But it's better than continuing to Vote R. Whenever one of them does that, it benefits us, so let's not knock it.

  9. Comment by Sulla.

    Trump has hurt so many people so badly.

    And yet we are still at "considering".

  10. Comment by rickap.

    C'mon farmers! Let's all sing the FAFO song!

    • Reply by Leeb29.

      F their feelings.

  11. Comment by bopamole.

    39% of the farmers surveyed are "considering abandoning the republican party". That means that 61% are just fine with the horror show that is our current executive branch. That means they are racists and mysogynists, and if even 3 percent of the "39%" were to cross lines to vote blue, I would be shocked. We just have this huge undereducated, ignorant and racist population made up of all kinds of people, and until we deal with that...we will have to deal with the orange fallout.

    • Reply by CalPoolidge.

      Iowa has 3.24 million people and 5% are farmers, so about 162,000 farmers.

      61% of that is just shy of 99,000 people.

      And most of them are only getting one source of info (or two if you count hate radio).

  12. Comment by PhillyATX.

    I’m sure once farmers start to take in some “Dems are letting in immigrant criminals“ and “Dems are making your kids trans“ they’ll return home to their Republican roots and vote accordingly. You can’t easily fix the hateful.

  13. Comment by Yellfire.

    This is lipstick on a pig. Alternet has a much more realistic take on this:

    "Farmers and ranchers are not happy with President Donald Trump's impact on their business, giving him a brutal new disapproval rating, but according to the same poll, they are still likely to stick by the Republican Party, prompting one reporter to say they deserve "no sympathy."

    Here's the link -

    https://www.alternet.org/trump-farmers-2676899841/

  14. Comment by brasilaaron.

    they thought it would be great fun to have a president publicly hate on and punish people they disliked. Like Black and brown people, queer people, and women people. They thought their hate bought them membership to the Free From the Consequences of Their Actions Club. Sorry Charlie, your selfish sense of entitlement, lack of empathy, lack of cognitive skills, and lack of responsibility are earning you what you've bought.

    This time around, if we get out of this, the non-MAGA Americans need to charge, try, and (hopefully) convict every last MAGA-enabling elected official and judge. This is what the US failed to do after the Civil War, and what we cannot fail to do when MAGA recedes. We cannot let "This isn't what i voted for!" be enough.

  15. Comment by Methinks They Lie.

    Farmers make up 5% of Iowa's population..............so let me see here (takes out calculator)......................that means there are 127 farmers in Iowa! 😉 Wow! What a juggernaut!

    And yet they still get TWO Senators just like I do in California.

    Seems legit.

    • Reply by winniemae.

      Yeah, that 5% doesn't strike me as being particularly high. Maybe they went out of business.

    • Reply by SJ in NS.

      I asked for population and got a figure of 3.24 million in Iowa. 5% would make 162,000 thousand farmers. Does this sound about right?

    • Reply by OrdinaryIowan.

      An interesting sidelight to that stat is that while “only” 5% of Iowa’s population are farmers, around 25-30% of our Legislature are active or retired farmers or farmer-adjacent in agribusiness, so the tail seriously wags the dog here. It seems that everyone either is a farmer, was a farmer, or knows a farmer - and as old as our population is, way too many Iowans share the same anger that farmers nurture about missing the “good old days” when they could be freely racist and misogynistic without anybody calling them on it.

  16. Comment by Slideman.

    There is NO FUCKING REASON IN THE WORLD why farmers should vote Republican!!! Time and time again, Republican policies have been shown to be bad for farmers!

    I HOPE this is a realignment for the rural vote!! Democrats would be smart in taking advantage of this and I hope they are!

    • Reply by brasilaaron.

      the vast majority of farmers in the US are white. White supremacy is a powerful drug, and they're hooked on it. It may not be a good reason, but they're deep in a culture that tells them that being white is good for them, in fact it is the bestest thing.

      For non-white farmers, I would imagine that they don't support MAGA either at all, or at least not at the same rate as white farmers do.

    • Reply by Poetat13thAve.

      The other thing about farmers is they tend to be a very stubborn lot. They could not be successful otherwise. So, once they decide to adopt a political or social philosophy, they don't abandon it easily. They embody the classic authoritarian personality type because that's what they are.

    • Reply by Leeb29.

      Are there any statistics showing that racism is the top reason farmers vote Republican?

    • Reply by Slideman.

      And yet a lot of their employees are non-white! Well they need to decide what is more important to them! And if they stick with MAGA, I have ZERO sympathy for them!

    • Reply by calidove.

      It is the top reason white people in general vote for Trump. His political ascendance was built on it.

    • Reply by Odysseus.

      Very few people would admit that it was their reason in public. That's why we get stories about "economic anxiety" and "the cost of eggs". Euphemisms abound.

    • Reply by Mercy Ormont.

      The reason is isolation from the dominant culture. They live among people like themselves, go to church with people like themselves, and the radio and TV they can tune to is run by people like themselves.

      We were once stuck in western KS for several days. The only radio or TV we could get consisted of extensive farm reports, local news, and country music.

    • Reply by mabon.

      You just said what I was going to.

  17. Comment by CaptainDunsel.

    ". . . with more than three-quarters of voters in farming communities casting a ballot for him . . ."

    This is not quite accurate. The statistic going around the internet like norovirus on a cruise ship is that 78% of voters in farming-dependent counties voted for Trump. Not "farming communities."

    Wikipedia has this definition of a farming-dependent county: "Farming dependent counties (440 total, 403 nonmetro) are those with either 15 percent or more of average annual labor and proprietors' earnings derived from farming during 1998-2000 or 15 percent or more of employed residents worked in farm occupations in 2000." That includes the immigrant laborers who don't vote. I don't know if it includes people like cannery employees.

    Recently in California, Del Monte Foods filed for bankruptcy and shut down a processing plant in Modesto, causing farmers to begin to destroy 420,000 peach trees. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/california-peach-trees-destroyed-del-monte-b2973643.html

    It's not just Old MacDonald and his ducks. A lot of people are involved. And just for the heck of it I'll point out that Stanislaus County, where Modesto is the county seat, leans slightly Democratic.

    I will repeat this until it ceases to be true or I collapse from exhaustion—we don't know how farmers voted, nor do we even have a clear definition of what a "farmer" is, for the purposes of collecting statistical information.

  18. Comment by vigilantius.

    If 30% of rural America voted for Dems the Repubs would cease to exist as national party overnight, never to return.

    Unfortunately they are the most willfully propagandized segment of the failed citizenry, and will continue to idiotically and monolithically vote Repub, even as their farms and small businesses are auctioned off to the billionaires. The rest are well-off exurbanites, who also vote "culture war" shit Uber Alles...

    • Reply by vigilantius.

      Trumpolini has expressed open contempt for his braindead supporters a hundred times already.

    • Reply by BobRR.

      He doesn't need them anymore.

  20. Comment by Lefty Coaster.

    Donald Trump's main domestic concern is the W.H. Ballroom,

    • Reply by Mercy Ormont.

      And the arch. And the swimming...er..."reflecting" pool. And sticking his own name on everything.

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