News + Press

National and state representatives from a variety of producer groups are expressing nervousness and doubt over President Donald Trump’s policies. This sentiment extends to those in the food industry in Oneida County. While farmers make up a small proportion of voters, they are inherently woven into the fabric and economic vitality of rural New York. Large swaths of Oneida County’s land resources are devoted to food production. Farmers are not only businesspeople but also stewards of our environment. There is no doubt that high food prices played a critical role in Trump’s election. His promises of addressing these elevated prices—which he has already broken—swayed many voters as they struggled to meet their financial obligations. High food prices truly were and are a “kitchen-table issue.” While elevated prices are difficult for average people to cope with, there is something more dangerous lurking, and that is the potential destruction of the food system’s ability to deliver bounty and choice to consumers. In the long term, food availability may be a serious issue.

The reasons for angst among farmers, some of whom formed part of Trump’s most loyal base of support in the 2024 presidential election, are many. Here are some expressions of frustration that were mentioned in a recent national Zoom meeting:

• The halting of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has and will dramatically affect farmers. While feeding the hungry is of primary concern, food aid comes from US farm products. Halting USAID will take $2 billion out of the agricultural economy. This will affect a whole host of food products, especially US grain and dairy products, and comes at a very bad time for farmers who are already struggling with low commodity prices and high input costs. The Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) purports to be aiming to save money and prevent waste, yet it apparently has no problem seeing food wasted in warehouses and on ships.

• Several farmers have complained that promised payments for land preservation and natural resource conservation programs have been stopped, leaving already promised money out of the hands of farmers. One farmer mentioned he had been a “sucker” and felt deceived.

• The promised tariffs and the possibility of a trade war are creating havoc in the food system. Already, Europe, one of our best customers, is talking about halting all food imports from the US. Tariffs will raise the prices of farm inputs; prices of everything, from steel and aluminum—which will raise the cost of machinery—to fertilizer and other inputs, will rise. Trump brags he raised farm incomes in his last presidency, but he did so by destroying the Chinese market and then had to pay farmers out of the US Treasury. The corn and soybean market to China is gone—they invested billions in South America. Nevertheless, Trump is at it again.

• The possibility of production declining and prices rising further is a real possibility because of these policies.

• The American consumer can expect more “egg situations” with other products if some of newly confirmed Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s proposed policy changes at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) go into effect. Livestock farmers are deeply concerned that animal health vaccines could be restricted, causing more livestock deaths and lower production.

Last week, newly confirmed Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins addressed US Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees. Her comments were limited to Trump-fawning platitudes and calls to eliminate diversity programs. Absent from Rollins’ comments was any mention of tariffs. She invited DOGE to come into the department but made no mention of any efforts to lower prices or increase production; she also failed to mention Trump’s ill-informed plan to deport much-needed labor. Having a bunch of young tech people from DOGE determine USDA policy goes beyond the pale.

With federal agricultural policy appearing to take a destructive turn in this second Trump administration, the Oneida County Democratic Committee plans to develop a Rural Policy Council to address these issues and others and lay out a pathway to make our food producers and rural areas more prosperous. There is a better way forward than what the Trump administration is pushing.