Iowa farmers are struggling under Trump tariffs and program cuts, union leader says

Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman is a fifth-generation farmer from Polk County who grows corn, soybeans, oats and hay with his wife and son. 

He’s proud of what he does. He said his family, like all farmers, loves to grow what feeds people and be part of thriving rural communities. 

But Lehman is worried about those communities after seeing the effects of the Trump administration’s tariff and trade policies, which he called chaotic. Farmers worked hard to cultivate international relationships with overseas buyers, but, he said, that work goes for nothing if trade policy is haphazard. 

“More and more of our farmers are reporting that they are on the verge of a crisis on their farm and in their rural community,” Lehman said during a late June press conference with Defend America Action, a group that says it will use media and community voices to fight for working families against President Donald Trump policies that benefit only the wealthy. 

“We need to work together in rural America to support one another and create systems that work together, because we’re not on the right path,” Lehman added. 

Trump has said his tariffs are saving the U.S. economy. A June announcement from the White House about tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper imports says the tariffs will “more effectively address national security threats, spur investment in American agriculture, housing, and manufacturing, and facilitate U.S. production of related products.” 

A June report from Defend America Action highlights data that paints a harsh picture of what farmers are dealing with, from rising fertilizer costs to higher gas prices. The number of farm bankruptcies went up 46% in 2025, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Midwest farms accounted for 121 of the 315 filings in 2025. 

Lehman said farmers were unprepared for the United States to go to war with Iran this spring as they got ready for planting. Beyond rising fuel prices tied to the war, Lehman said, farmers were already dealing with cuts to their local U.S. Department of Agriculture offices and programs. Iowa lost 17% of its USDA staff last year, the Iowa Capital Dispatch recently reported.

“All of this on top of labor costs rising because of the threats to our diverse labor force that our farms and agribusinesses rely on,” Lehman said. “All this on top of healthcare costs skyrocketing for farm families because of expiring supports for families using the Affordable Care Act. My family saw our healthcare premiums more than double.” 

In January, House Democrats and 17 House Republicans passed a bill that would restore Affordable Care Act tax credits that expired at the end of 2025, but the Senate has not voted on the bill.

Without the Biden-era subsidies that helped more Americans pay health insurance premiums, many Iowans are either losing coverage or paying more for it. 

To deal with all of these financial challenges, Lehman said, Iowa farmers are delaying needed repairs or replacements to equipment, putting off improvements to soil fertility, and holding up any efforts to innovate or bring on the next generation of farmers. 

“And that’s so sad,” he said. “It is so shortsighted that we cannot invest in our farms, our rural communities and the next generation being an integral part.”

Lehman also said farmers in Iowa would feel the cuts Congress made to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children in June. An agricultural appropriations bill that passed the House of Representatives on June 4 and has not yet been voted on in the Senate includes $141 million in cuts to the program, which provides food support for nearly 5.4 million toddlers, preschoolers and pregnant and postpartum women, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Experts say food insecurity affects rural and urban parts of Iowa. Every Iowa county saw a rise in food insecurity over previous years’ rates, according to a report on the results of Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study of 2023 data that came out last year. The next study is expected to come out this summer. 

Farmers also rely on the Women, Infants and Children program as a stable market to sell their fruits and vegetables. Eligible participants can use their program benefits to buy directly from farmers. 

“They’re driven by a passion to feed people who need healthy food and want good, healthy, local food,” Lehman said of farmers. “And those programs are vital to provide a reliable market for what they grow.” 

Lehman said program cuts, such as the loss of $11 million in federal funding that helped bring fresh food to schools and food banks, make the lives of vegetable growers unpredictable because it’s hard for them to plan. 

“It makes their whole life difficult when they’re trying to find a way that they can just connect what they grow with people in their community who need it,” he said.