Shouts of victory greeted the nation this past January as Trump voters celebrated his win for a 2nd term as President of the United States. Trump’s approval rating stood at 49% nationwide. He’s the best president ever, some were saying.
But not if you ask a bunch of US farmers. A large percentage of them voted for him. Now, a growing number say they were betrayed. According to a Fox News poll, there’s only one issue where Trump’s ratings “are in positive territory” right now. And that’s immigration. The Fox report shows there’s nationwide displeasure on most other issues – including inflation.” The “other issues” the poll cited are the economy, tariffs, foreign policy, taxes and guns.
FARMERS ARE FACING BANKRUPTICY
Farmers “overwhelmingly” voted for Trump by an average of 77.7%” in the 2024 election, according to Investigate Midwest. A map on its website shows 444 of America’s most farming dependent counties, from the Canadian border through the Midwest down to the Texas Panhandle, with a few counties in mid and south Texas.
On September4, 2025, an Arkansas farmer, pleading with the state’s congressional delegation for emergency funding from the Trump administration, said without it, “one out of three farmers will file bankruptcy.”
TARIFFS ARE TEARING AT FARMERS
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, “Trump’s tariffs and domestic policies have driven up costs, gutted export markets and sent crop prices tumbling.”
The costs of farming - fertilizers, fuel, seeds, machinery, financing and labor - are soaring. Meanwhile, according to Farm Policy News in 2024, prices for farming products, corn, soybeans and wheat were falling to the “lowest levels since December 2020,” On September 13, 2025, Newsweek reported “Farmers Are Struggling Under Donald Trump.” The article covers a wide range of conditions leading to the growing rate of farmer bankruptcies. American Farmland Owner reported on July 18,2025, these bankruptcies are continuing to climb.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
Investigate Midwest paints a less that pretty future. Trump’s tariffs have already caused ongoing important losses. “China has cancelled mass shipments of American farm products…” and “it is already developing agricultural markets in other parts of the world.”
Farmers are facing market challenges, tariffs that have cut the international demand for US agricultural products and labor shortages due to the immigration crackdown. On September 10, 2025, The Cato Institute reported more U.S. Farmers went bankrupt in the first half of 2025 than in all of 2024, calling the crisis “Government-Grown.” The Institute also reported the government just released $42 billion in “emergency funds” to help farmers, declaring that’s the only reason more aren’t going bankrupt.
PRAY FOR TEXAS
According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas leads the nation in the number of farms and ranches with nearly 250,000 covering 125 million acres and 93% of the farms and ranches family owned and operated.
With a 300% increase in federal subsidies for farmers and ranchers from 2024 to 2025, and political and market conditions that continue to disrupt agriculture in the U.S. and international markets under the Trump Administration, there’s no telling if those subsidies will last.
Jodie Sinclair is an award-winning writer who holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and resides in Bandera.
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