Farmers face steep losses in the middle of Trump's trade war and funding cuts
Jennifer Gilkerson never imagined that her West Virginia farm’s freeze-dried fruits would get caught up in political fights in Washington, D.C.
Jennifer Gilkerson never imagined that her West Virginia farm’s freeze-dried fruits would get caught up in political fights in Washington, D.C.
But last Friday, she learned that funding for a U.S. Agriculture Department program that helps schools and food banks buy products from local farmers like her had been cut. Without those federal dollars, Gilkerson no longer expects local schools to be able to buy her freeze-dried fruits, which she has already spent thousands of dollars preparing to produce.
“We’re just in such a state of shock. We just don’t really even know how to respond to all this. We thought that this was sacred and really untouchable,” Gilkerson said. “Everyone thinks all farmers voted for this, but we did not vote for this.”
From funding cuts to tariffs, farmers have found themselves caught in the middle of President Donald Trump’s escalation of trade wars and efforts to slash billions of dollars in spending, leaving a growing number now struggling to find markets for their products and facing the risk of steep losses for the year ahead.
Trump has acknowledged the impact his trade policies will have on farmers, telling them in his address to Congress this month that there will be “a little bit of an adjustment period” and that farmers will have to “bear with me again.” When it comes to spending cuts at the Agriculture Department and other agencies, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a CNBC interview this week, the current federal spending levels are unsustainable and there will have to be a “detox period” for the economy as cuts are made.
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