LANSING — The Trump administration announced a $12 billion aid plan for farmers this week, seeking to blunt the impact of increasing input costs, dropping exports and tariff-related drops in trade.
But some Michigan farmers say the help could still fall short, and agriculture experts say that the industry is facing a multitude of challenges.
“Tariffs alone aren’t hurting farmers and producers, but they do come at a time when we’re experiencing numerous compounding factors that have taken a toll on the industry as a whole,” said Tim Boring, director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
According to the American Farm Bureau, agriculture costs have outpaced crop revenue significantly since 2023.
Boring told the Michigan Senate this week that tariff-related drops in exports would cost Michigan more than $160 million this year.
”We have 40 years of farm policy that’s built around shipping premium-value American crops around the world,” Boring said. “The financial stress that we’re seeing on farms today and the uncertainty about planning for tomorrow is in large part due to those abrupt changes in trade policy.”
Boring says that inconsistent trade policies have hurt the US’s standing as a reliable partner for other countries — and that they’ve caused pain for Michigan farmers.
“We’re hearing Michigan companies are having challenges remaining competitive in the global marketplace right now — and to me, that’s the concerning, long-lasting impact of the current federal approach to trade policy,” he said.
How exactly the $12 billion would be distributed isn’t yet clear. Farmers of row crops like soybeans and corn would receive $11 billion, while $1 billion would go to producers of fruits and specialty crops.
Paul Schroeder of EPS Farms has been farming soybeans for more than 40 years. He worries that the aid could essentially be a handout to suppliers and wouldn’t support farmers in the long term.
“The aid package will never get us ahead, but it might help pay some bills,” he said. “And we’ll find a way to — I don’t want to say ‘cheat, and rob, and steal and get to the next step,’ but that’s almost what you feel like you do.”
Bob Thompson, president of the Michigan Farmers Union, said the plan was a bandaid for economic pains that could have been avoided from the start.
“We would be more than happy to forego any government payment if we could just have a fair market for the products that we produce,” he said.