Trump's Policy is Hurting American Farmers

Since the end of February, the U.S.’s war with Iran has been putting pressure on farmers around the nation. In farm country, the war isn’t a distant foreign-policy crisis, it’s a hit to their everyday operations. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important passageways for oil and fertilizer shipments. Iran closed the Strait when the war began, spiking the costs of fuel and fertilizer across the globe. The Strait was briefly opened over the weekend, but then closed again due to the U.S.’s continued blockade of Iranian ports. For American farmers, this means that nearly every aspect of their production has gotten more expensive, while the prices they receive haven’t kept up.

American farmers have not had the easiest time under the second Trump administration. Last year, Trump’s trade war with China and tariffs caused severe hardships for many farmers. Soybean farmers, in particular, struggled as China refused to purchase their crops. Now those same farmers are getting squeezed from the other side: higher costs for fertilizer, fuel, and credit driven by the Iran war, with no guarantee they can sell their grain at a price that covers what it took to grow it. Instead of a “big, beautiful” era for agriculture, many producers describe feeling backed into a corner—stuck between geopolitical fights they didn’t ask for and balance sheets that no longer add up.

For rural communities, the impacts of struggling farmers ripples outward. Younger farmers look at the combination of war‑driven volatility, trade shocks, and rising interest rates and wonder whether there’s a future in taking over the family operation at all.

https://onecountryproject.substack.com/i/194960952/trumps-policy-is-hurting-american-farmers