Iowa Farmers Seek Government Support Amid Tariffs, Trade Deals

CARLISLE, Iowa — While U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn and Iowa farmers said no one wants “handouts” from the government, they also said support is likely needed as the agriculture industry grapples with the recent impacts of tariff negotiations and the government shutdown.

Nunn, as well as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, held a roundtable discussion Tuesday with farmers at the Heartland Co-op in Carlisle. Tom Hauschel, CEO of the Heartland Co-Op, told reporters the business is “off to a very difficult start this year.”

“With the farm economy, what it has been, and crop size, with all the fungus and rust that we had, it’s the most stressful year we’ve had in the entire history of the cooperative,” Hauschel said. “… The pressure started at the farm gate, and now we’re feeling it at the retail level, and it’s going to be extremely difficult year. We need a long-term plan so that we can build this business and maintain our interests of our farm community that we serve. And today, we don’t have a long-term plan, and we’re feeling the effects of it.”

While many Iowa farmers and associated groups have said they felt encouraged by President Donald Trump’s trade deal with China last week, which included the purchase of soybeans in 2025 and future years, the effects of the president’s plans to renegotiate trade deals with other countries combined with other economic factors means many farmers are still predicting a tough year ahead.

The Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions Index, a survey of bank CEOs in rural Iowa and other Midwestern states, found most bankers approved of Trump’s approach to trade with China, but that 85 percent supported providing farmers emergency federal payments in order to make up for the financial losses caused by recent international trade decisions.

Vernon Flinn, a farmer outside Des Moines, said “there’s not a farmer that I’ve ever spoke to that would like to have the money come from the government.” While farmers would prefer to just have the free market dictate prices, he said “short-term” financial help is needed.

“I think part of the problem we’re facing is brought on by the government,” Flinn said. “So I think the government’s got an obligation to help, maybe, bail guys out of it. I mean, with prices we’re facing today, with expenses if we’re looking out for planting a crop … yeah, there’s going to have to be help.”

Naig also said, “unfortunately, yes,” he believed the federal government should provide economic support for farmers in light of recent economic difficulties.

“We are in a situation where — because of the market conditions because of profitability and agriculture — we are in a situation where it gets a short-term fix,” Naig said. “I think that’s the point we’re trying to make here is the economics on the farm are real, and that has ripple effects into the rest of the economy — certainly an economy like Iowa, that’s ag and manufacturing base. So yes, but then, let’s make sure we’re focusing on the longer-term solutions here, which are markets, domestically and international.”

Nunn did not say directly if he would support bailouts for farmers but said he, alongside other Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration, want to focus on the long-term solutions needed to aid farmers. He highlighted portions of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” providing tax incentives for young and beginning farmers and permanently increasing estate tax exemptions, as well as his discussions with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on increasing domestic biofuel consumption through year-round E-15 and expanding the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit.

Nunn also said Trump’s approach to renegotiating trade deals and implementing tariffs is part of a long-term solution to support farmers.

“No farmer that I’ve ever talked to says they want a bailout,” Nunn said. “What they’d like to be able to do is expand their market. That’s both internationally, as the president just showed in his Asia trip, but it’s also domestically, something that the Biden administration failed to do for us for four years, something that this administration can do for us right now.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: [email protected].