Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: AS U.S. farmers enter autumn harvest season worried that low crop prices and a trade war could hurt their livelihoods, Republican farm-state lawmakers are urging President Donald Trump’s administration to issue economic aid for farmers by year’s end.
Discussions between lawmakers and the administration highlight the trade-offs Republicans face between loyalty to the president and representing constituents who have contacted their offices and flocked to town halls in their districts, worried about the impact of Trump’s trade policies.
Republican Senator John Hoeven, who leads agriculture funding on the appropriations committee, said he is discussing with the administration an approach similar to that taken during Trump’s first term, when the federal government issued $23 billion in payments to farmers to offset losses from a trade war with China. He said emergency aid could also be added to a government spending bill, according to a Reuters report.
Hoeven, of North Dakota, said farmers need assistance “the sooner, the better, but certainly by year-end.” On September 15, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said she is working with the Congress to evaluate how much aid might be needed this autumn, but did not specify a timeline or amount.
A USDA spokesperson said officials were “exploring the need for further assistance but have not made a determination if an additional program is needed at this time.” The spokesperson said Trump was supporting farmers by opening new international markets, lowering taxes and boosting farm supports in his tax-cut and spending bill. The federal government is already expected to spend more than $40 billion on payments to farmers in 2025, the second-highest amount since 1933, according to USDA data. The near-record sum is fueled by ad-hoc disaster and economic aid passed by Congress last December.
“Farmers are going through some of the worst economic times, I think, in my lifetime,” said Republican House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, of Pennsylvania, adding the need for aid has grown and he hopes to pass some assistance in a farm-spending package later this year. Congress is several years overdue to pass a farm bill.
