Former Farming Leaders Warn U.S. Agriculture Could Face 'Widespread Collapse'

[SamuelTheThird]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/us/politics/us-agriculture-warning.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JlA.vay0.OA_1zGwVz0M5&smid=url-share

Current economic conditions and Trump administration policies could lead to “a widespread collapse of American agriculture,” a bipartisan coalition of former Agriculture Department officials and leaders of farm groups warned in a letter on Tuesday.

The letter to the heads and ranking members of the House and Senate agricultural committees was signed by 27 influential figures in the farming sector, including former heads of powerful associations representing corn and soybean farmers and officials from the Bush and Reagan administrations. It expressed dismay at the “damage done to American farmers.”

While there are many reasons for increasing farm bankruptcies and decreasing profits, “it is clear that the current administration’s actions, along with congressional inaction, have increased costs for farm inputs, disrupted overseas and domestic markets, denied agriculture its reliable labor pool, and defunded critical ag research and staffing,” the letter warned.

[UpInArms]

1. FAFO ... the leopard eating face party is horrified to find their

faces have all been eaten

[Cirsium]

5. Eaters

It is the eaters who will suffer, not the growers.

Farmers - farm owners - are tiny percentage of the population, not big enough to affect election results even in the districts that are most heavily agricultural. Farm owners vote along the same lines as most business owners do, they skew Republican. Here in a mostly farm district, there are 300 or so growers, and they vote 55-45 Republican typically, yet well over 10,000 people voted for Trump.

It's not the farmers, nor the ranchers, nor the cowboys, nor the lumberjacks, who put Trump in office. That is all an illusion, from Reagan on horseback to Bush's phony ranch to Trumps macho cosplay.

Acres don't vote. A very small percentage of rural voters are farm owners. The Republican base is not farmers, ranchers, cowboys, and lumberjacks. Rather, there are a lot of Republican voters who identify with fantasies about various "rugged individualist" stereotypes. That is a component of the white settler project, of white nationalism.

[UpInArms]

8. I live in the middle of nowhere ... closest neighbor is at least 1/2 mile away

In farming/agriculture area … there are 2 CAFOs within 3 mile of my property ..

These stupid people are all Trump humping MAGAts … they still have billboard sized farmers for Trump signs on their houses and fences …

Please don’t lecture me

[Cirsium]

11. Exactly

You say "in the middle of nowhere" and your "closest neighbor is at least 1/2 mile away."

As I said, acres don't vote.

[UpInArms]

13. The county voted 80+% for him

Missouri, Pres.
10 electoral votes
GOP held
Candidate
Votes
Pct.
Donald Trump (R)
1,751,027
58.5%
Kamala Harris (D)
1,199,861
40.1%

[Cirsium]

16. I well know that

Let's take a look at Missouri. There are 3,000,000 or so workers in Missouri, and there are about 27,000 farm workers, a few of whom are actually owners — “farmers.” That is a little over 1%. Incidentally, the USDA defines a farm as any place that produced and sold— or normally would have produced and sold — at least $1,000 of agricultural products per year.

By way of comparison, there are 358,470 people working in office and administrative occupations; 251,150 transportation workers; 200,200 heath care practitioners; 257,610 food service workers; 239,430 work in sales; 197,350 factory workers; 181,350 in financial occupations; 169,240 work in education; 159,960 health care support workers; 120,100 installation and repair workers; 116,510 construction workers; 85,000 computer related jobs; 82,140 maintenance workers; 60,980 law enforcement and emergency services; 58,460 personal care workers; 46,640 social services workers; 35,520 in engineering jobs; 33,440 in arts and entertainment.

https://meric.mo.gov/data/occupation/occupational-employment-wages

[GusBob]

12. You should direct your vitriol towards the cartels

I'd bet there are more strung out meth heads in your county that voted for Trump than ranchers

[UpInArms]

15. Not to worry

They get plenty of my vitriol … I am so out of fucks to give

[GusBob]

10. Very good points

Which I fear are lost on " those farmers elected Trump so screw them" crowd found herein this thread . I, for one, am tired of the lame ass "FAFO" comment. Sheer laziness.

Imagine the lack of critical thinking, on this a political newsgroup: a very small percentage of voters are solely responsible for Trump winning the election! I hope and cheer for their just desserts! Ignoring all the rest of the folks that will be affected

Like, I dunno, the majority of people who eat?

[Cirsium]

14. Yep

The attacks on farmers betray an upper middle class suburban bias. That also reinforces all of the right wing framing about al of that red on the maps and about rugged he man stereotypes. It is all nonsense and it is bad politically for us to feed into all of that.

Never before in human existence has there been a population more alienated from and ignorant about their own food supply as the American people. Cheering the collapse of the agriculture infrastructure is reactionary to an extreme degree.

[yaesu]

2. Lack of farm workers will drive shortages we haven't seen before, empty store shelves, especially produce will be the

new norm starting this year. That will also feed inflation to highs we haven't seen since the 70's.

[RockRaven]

3. Farmers overwhelmingly voted for a widespread collapse of American agriculture.

I feel bad for everyone else, but the farmers that voted for this? Fuck them. I'm all out of empathy for idiotic assholes' self-destruction -- there was a bad empathy harvest this year.

[yardwork]

7. I saw them walking around wearing their Farmers for Trump shirts.

They smirked.

[Johonny]

9. After same man drove them to bankruptcy

Once before. It's like how many examples do you need?

[themaguffin]

4. I don't support such things, but nothing absolutely changes their fucked up beliefs that put them in this place. F them.

[indusurb]

6. For those of you cheering on this development as justified retribution, remember one thing,

No farmers, no food. If farmers go under we're all screwed. So while it may be soul satisfying to cheer on FAFO, the reality is that we all would pay the price

[gulliver]

17. Great article!

This is the kind of thing we need to be focused on like a laser. It has an absolutely huge effect on our lives. Farmers going bankrupt while grocery prices are going up? Might that not be something to check into? Might there not be some (I dunno) compassion and kindness considerations related to vast numbers of people keeping their farms or being able to afford food?

But, no. ICE and Epstein crack swamps the conversation.

[MagickMuffin]

18. Time to rethink Victory Gardens like during WWI & WWII

Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I and World War II.

In wartime, governments encouraged people to plant victory gardens not only to supplement their rations but also to boost morale. They were used along with rationing stamps and cards to reduce pressure on the food supply. Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front.

Something to think about and consider. It can bring communities together. You can learn how to produce better food without pesticides.