Trump's effect on Iowa

MS NOW - DES MOINES, Iowa — As farmers’ economic anxieties in this agricultural cradle rise, so does the political outlook for Democrats. Farmers across the Hawkeye State are feeling the punishing effects of President Donald Trump’s policies — from his war against Iran and sweeping tariffs to his new imported beef pricing plan.

“It’s chaos,” Aaron Lehman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, told MS NOW. “We are just not on the right path. At the time when farmers are dealing with all this uncertainty, we should be doing more to help them bring stability.”

Lehman, a fifth-generation soybean and corn farmer from Polk County, said farmers are putting off purchasing and repairing machinery because the costs are so high. “They’re putting off repairs even to machinery that should be repaired. They are bringing less innovation onto the farm,” he said.

Denise Ryan, a farmer from Columbus Junction, said rising diesel prices and tariffs are hurting her and her husband, Bill. “It is very stressful,” she said. “There is no doubt about it. All sorts of different factors sometimes going against us, and so many things we can’t control.”

Like other farmers interviewed by MS NOW at the Iowa State Fair’s Corn Day, Ryan and and her husband declined to say how they voted in previous elections.

The financial woes expressed by these farmers over the rising costs resulting from Trump’s economic plans and unpopular war in the Middle East come as Democrats seek to take back control of Congress and governors’ mansions in the midterm elections in just two months. Iowa, which Trump won by 13.2 percentage points in 2024, is a state that could tilt the balance of power if it elects a Democrat to the Senate for the first time since 2008…

“We already had very tight margins,” Iowa Corn Growers Association President Mark Mueller said, but higher diesel prices have “just ratcheted the margins even tighter.” Mueller, a corn and soybean farmer, estimated that he will spend an additional $12,000 this year filling an 8,000-gallon fuel barrel before harvest.

A gallon of diesel costs $5.37 in Iowa, up from $3.50 a year ago, according to AAA fuel prices.