WHEN I FIRST READ the message bannering the United States Department of Agriculture website during the current government shutdown, my jaw dropped. In a two-sentence statement, “The Radical Left Democrats” are blamed for the closure of the federal government. How unprofessional, I thought, to so blatantly put politics out there on a website designed to help America’s farmers. But then again, why should this surprise me?
United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is doing the same in a video message blaming Democrats for the shutdown. She expects this to be broadcast in airport terminals. Many are opting not to air her clearly political statement. And they shouldn’t. It’s unprofessional and wrong in more ways than I can list, no matter what your political affiliation may be.
But back to that message on the USDA website. It goes on to say that President Donald Trump wants to keep the government open “and support those who feed, fuel and clothe the American people.” Now that is certainly a noble statement at face value, one we could all applaud. Who doesn’t want to support our farmers? But in the context of what the President has done to farmers, the statement seems laughable.
Here in the heartland, farmers have lost a major market for soybeans, my state’s top agricultural export. China has stopped buying soybeans from not only Minnesota, but America. That’s billions of dollars in lost income. And all because of the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China, begun by the man who slapped tariffs—now averaging 58 percent—on Chinese imports with a threat to increase that to 100 percent. I’m no economist. But even I understand China’s retaliatory tariffs and actions to tap other markets for soybeans. They went to Brazil and Argentina.
And now President Trump proposes sending $20 billion in aid to Argentina, all tied to an upcoming election there. Why would we bail out a country exporting their soybeans to China while our own financially-strapped farmers are suffering because they’ve lost a key market? This makes no sense to me. Again, I’m not an economist or a politician, simply an ordinary American citizen, with a farm upbringing (and who decades ago freelanced for the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association), questioning the logic of any of this.
Even without the Argentinian component tossed into the mix, there’s more. President Trump has proposed an aid package for farmers to help them get through the financial crisis he created via his tariffs and the resulting trade war with China. That aid would come from the money collected from tariffs. Now I know farmers—my dad was one—are fiercely independent and would rather have a market for their cash crops than government aid. If not for the tariffs…
As the harvest continues here in Minnesota, I can’t help but feel for those who work the land, who continue to face so many uncertainties, financial challenges and stressors. Interest rates on loans remain high. Market prices remain low. Land rents continue to rise. Equipment and other costs are high. And on and on, including the loss of the long-standing soybean export market to China, which quite likely may never be reclaimed.
This is becoming a crisis situation for farmers—those who feed, fuel and clothe Americans. From fields to small town Main Street, rural America is hurting. And politically-biased blame words published on a government website aren’t helping.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
I agree with you 100% on this Audrey. It takes both sides working together to figure out the budget. To solely focus on blaming the other party is extremely childish and immature. Imagine if we did that in our own household when my husband and I work on the budget. We wouldn’t be married for 30 years with that kind of foolish behavior. And politicians are supposed to be wise leaders of our country… 😑
To put our farmers in such dire circumstances is extremely short-sighted. And throwing money we don’t have at a problem they created is so backwards.
I agree with absolutely everything you wrote in your thoughtful comment, Rose.
He did this same thing during his first term and had to bail out the farmers who’d lost their markets in China. Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed back then and we got our China markets back before too much damage was done. This time around, there are no wiser heads, just incompetent toadies, so the damage may be greater and less easily fixed. A sad state of affairs…
You are correct in stating this also happened during this first term. And you are right, no one seems to be holding him in check this time around.
I agree with you Audrey. This one dilemma is so frustrating on multiple levels. And there are so many other dilemmas going on right now. One after another after another. I cannot believe this craziness continues. So many people are being hurt in numerous ways as the repercussions filter down to the average person. What a mess!
What a mess is right. Every day brings something new. You are absolutely right that the average person is being negatively affected whether they realize it or not.
Right there with ya! Refreshing to hear someone calling him out!
He must be called out. I refuse to remain silent. Going to my fourth protest on Saturday.
Being from a many generation farming family my heart breaks for those caught in the craziness. Of course this is hardly the first harm caused by the Feds, but it is particularly egregious. After decades of craziness, I fail to understand how any farmer stays in business.
You clearly understand. Yes, it’s a wonder that anyone continues to farm.
Loyalty to the Republican party, despite the felon conviction, the charges of obstruction to justice, the lying is costing farmers dearly, maybe even ownership of their land. A tragedy in the making. Yet I suspect the majority of farmers voted to put the current president in office. What is happening to the farmer could be the beginning of a landslide, wiping out rural America’s small towns too. Never trust a liar, a friend of Putin or one who receives love letters from the terrorist of North Korea. Farmers are reaping the whirlwind they may have unwittingly set themselves up in which to be entrapped. Grieved. Mary Johnson
I agree with you, Mary. Well summarized. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and perspective on this topic.
this is so upsetting on every level and I know that as the daughter of a farmer and immersed in a state of farmers, this cuts right to your heart even more deeply. this is so wrong and I hope it can be righted before long.
It will be interesting to see what unfolds with markets and with our farmers. These are difficult times.