Under the Trump administration, farm policy prioritized large farms and farm corporations over small family farms. For example, the Trump administration revoked rules to protect livestock producers from exploitation by big agricultural operators. Mr. Trump also weakened oversight of meat packers to the detriment of individual small farmers. After attempts to eliminate the Undersecretary for Rural Development (the position was left vacant during the Trump administration), the budget was slashed.
The mission of the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development is to provide financial resources to rural communities, improving life in rural America. Another way the Trump administration hurt small farmers was by reducing the workforce and the budget of the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Beyond cutting available services and resources to rural farmers, the Trump administration started a trade war, closing markets and raising consumer prices.
A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that agricultural exports were reduced by $27 billion from mid-2018, when the tariffs were imposed, to the end of 2019. These policies led directly to the soaring farm bankruptcies that erupted under the Trump Presidency. In his next administration he will continue these policies more aggressively and will cut crop insurance policies. Recently, a hail storm damaged the apple crop in Orleans County. Cutting or repealing crop insurance, as Project 2025 proposes, will devastate farmers and local communities. A second Trump administration will devastate rural America.
