'Farmers are doing very well': Trump dismisses concerns over soaring fertilizer costs

Farmers in the U.S. are struggling under President Donald Trump's second term due to rising costs stemming from high tariffs and the ongoing Iran conflict. While several surveys show the majority of farmers can't afford staples like fertilizer, Trump, in his latest interview with 'Meet the Press', claimed "farmers are doing well" and that all of them support him.

In the interview with NBC's Kristen Welkar, Trump was asked what his message would be to the farmers who say they can't afford fertilizers. "The farmers are doing very well. All of them support me," Trump said right off the bat. He then dismissed that they were struggling, claiming no other administration has been better to farmers. "You know what I gave farmers last term? $28 billion because China took advantage of other people," he said. 

When pressed to share his message, the President said, "I love the farmers, and the farmers love me. The farmers trust me," going back to his first term, where he claimed farmers flourished with "very cheap fertilizer" and low gas prices. "I could’ve kept it that way. But I said, I have to take a little bit of a turn. The farmers are going to understand it better than anybody," he added, referring to the Iran war. 

Since agriculture relies heavily on diesel, the price increase due to the war has taken a toll on farmers throughout the crucial spring planting season. According to The Guardian, farmers were paying about $2.65 a gallon for off-road diesel last year, and this year the price is pushing $5 a gallon. Furthermore, citing the latest statistics, the publication reported that 86% of U.S. farmers run small family farms with a gross income of $350,000 a year or less, and a majority of those have high-risk profit margins of 10% or less, making them vulnerable to cost fluctuations.

The second major concern is fertilizer prices, which have shot up since Iran choked the Strait of Hormuz through which a third of the world's fertilizer trade passes, as per the World Economic Forum. In a survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation, 70% of the farmers said they can't afford all the fertilizer they need at a time when farm bankruptcies reached their highest level in six years this April. Furthermore, Trump's emergency tariffs last year hit farmers hard as imported farm equipment got expensive, with U.S. agricultural exports falling. According to the American Enterprise Institute, most of the overall decline in U.S. exports came from two countries: China, where imports of U.S. goods fell by $16 billion, and Canada, where imports fell by $1.3 billion.

These issues have raised concerns over Republican candidates suffering in key Midwestern states this November in the midterm elections, The Hill reported. Thus, Trump and members of his administration are currently campaigning to assure farmers that they are going to tackle the challenges. Trump, who was overwhelmingly backed by farmers in 2024 as he won all but 11 of 444 farming-dependent counties, on Monday, signed a proclamation lowering tariffs on some agricultural equipment from 25% to 15%. He and members of his administration are currently campaigning through the Midwest to bolster support for Republican U.S. Representative Derrick Van Orden in the midterms.