The United States is currently teetering on the edge of crisis. Well, to be exact, several crises, but for the moment we’ll look at the one likely to cause widespread starvation and food riots. That’s because, due to Donald Trump‘s tariffs, domestic farming is teetering on a cliff edge.
Farms, already operating on thin margins and at the mercy of the climate, have been thrown into chaos by Trump’s policies. These have made key crops like soybeans uneconomical to export, while also driving the prices of raw materials through the roof.
In Trump’s first term, agriculture ended in a similarly precarious position, with his administration bailing them out to the tune of an eyewatering $61 billion of taxpayers’ money. The same needs to happen right now to prevent disaster, but so far, there’s no concrete plan, and farmers are nervously sweating.
As reported by Politico, farmers need to make “crucial decisions about next year’s planting season” over the next few weeks. This may involve seeking loans from banks for raw materials and equipment, but under the current administration, there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to pay that loan off.
Kansas Republican Senator Jerry Moran laid it out:
“Farmers are hurting financially. They’re very troubled, there’s some expectation for help. Emotionally, it would be great for something to happen soon. But financially, they need to be able to go to their bankers and say that help is on the way.”
But they can’t. The chaotic Trump administration has indicated it’d like to bail out farmers, but there’s no plan: the size of the bailout hasn’t been decided, no budgeting, and there are forces pushing against it in the administration that see a farming bailout as weakening their position on China.
A spike in food prices
Oscar Gonzales, an agricultural aide during the Obama and Biden administrations, hinted at what’s coming:
“We will start to see a spike in food prices. We’re starting to reach that precarious zone of not allowing farmers the tools, the commitments that they need to plan — it’s upon us already, to be honest. Farmers are going to need something.”
It should go without saying that a total or even partial collapse of domestic farming would be apocalyptic for regular Americans. Economic predictions promise a sharp price increase in groceries, with bread, cereal, and meat hit particularly hard, supply chain disruptions would also mean empty shelves in stores, and low-income households would face acute hunger.
From there, it’s a hop, skip, and a jump to panic buying, hoarding, and widespread social unrest. The government would likely be forced to pay through the nose for imports which, in a deeply ironic twist, would see the Trump administration impoverishing Americans and enriching the Chinese government.
Something is going to have to happen soon, or we’re going to enter what historians dub “interesting times”.
