President Donald Trump promised a “golden age” of American agriculture. Farm-state Republicans are feeling pressure to make a down payment before the midterms.
Over the past five months, the Trump administration has rolled out trade agreements it says will give farmers access to new markets and reopened Chinese purchases of millions of pounds of soybeans after a trade war-induced, monthslong boycott. It also spearheaded an effort to get $12 billion in direct payments to farmers to recover some of their losses amid the president’s trade war.
But farmers’ sentiment about their industry has seen sharp declines over a similar stretch, according to a monthly survey conducted by Purdue University — the predominant way their perception of the U.S. agricultural economy is tracked — and new data shows farm bankruptcies soaring.
Republicans from rural America are warning that one of their key voter bases could sit out this election year, a blow for a party already facing stiff political headwinds.
