Farmers say they've 'hit rock bottom,' but still believe next year will be better

The coverage treats farm country as collateral damage from one man’s impulses, as if our export markets were stable until Washington started picking fights. That framing skips the reality that China and other competitors have been tightening the screws for years, and that “free trade” often meant American producers playing by rules others ignored.

Yes, farmers are hurting. But blaming “trade wars” alone dodges a harder question: whether our food system should depend on foreign leverage and bureaucratic wishful thinking. A serious policy starts with fair trade enforcement, not permanent vulnerability dressed up as global cooperation.

On USAID and labor, the issue is not cruelty. It is public trust and rule of law. Farm labor needs workable legal pathways, but it cannot be a wink at a broken border.

And on inputs like herbicides and oil seeds, the debate should be driven by sound science, not activist campaigns. The principle at stake is simple: a nation that cannot protect its farmers cannot protect its independence.