Farmers' trade group highlights export crisis in US agricultural heartland

LOS ANGELES - Farmers for Free Trade's "Motorcade for Trade" arrived in the US state of Iowa on Friday for a listening session at a farm, where US Representative Zach Nunn met local growers pressing for stable export markets and lower trade barriers.

Nunn, a supporter of US President Donald Trump and his tariff policies, spent the afternoon trying to convince the audience that the US trade policy was reasonable for balancing a mammoth trade deficit with the rest of the world, local media reported.

The unique tour by the national advocacy group began Sept 5 in Nebraska, with US Representative Adrian Smith speaking to several dozen local agricultural leaders.

Nebraska Public Media quoted the farmers' group's co-executive director Brian Kuehl as saying, "We're on the verge of a farm crisis" as production costs exceed sale prices for many growers.

During the tour's second stop in South Dakota, organizers announced that the state's soybean exports decreased by more than 10 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2025.

Meanwhile, Farmers for Free Trade data showed that local farmers suffered significant additional tariff costs, such as $1.4 million in extra tariffs on farm machinery and equipment.

Local media reports say soybeans were sold for about $10.50 per bushel one year ago in South Dakota, but are now $1 to $1.50 lower.

"With American agriculture generating $176 billion in annual exports and supporting more than one million jobs, farmers argue that trade access is essential for rural economic prosperity," the non-profit group said on its official website.

According to the trade advocacy group, the tour, spanning approximately 4,020 km across the US agricultural heartland, was designed to amplify the voices of farmers calling for open markets and reduced trade barriers.

At Iowa's event, Nunn said local farmers' voices deserve to be heard, and wrote in a post on the social platform Facebook that "agricultural security is national security."

The Iowa stop is the third stop of the producer-led campaign to highlight how export access affects farm incomes. Farmers for Free Trade said the caravan will culminate with a November event in Washington, DC.

Friday's Iowa meeting kept the focus on near-term realities: Farmers are harvesting corn and soybeans with increasingly few buyers, pushing some to store grain and hope for later sales. Tour organizers said the tour will carry those stories to Capitol Hill in the coming weeks as the US Congress debates farm and trade policy.

The Dakota News Now reported Thursday that the conflict over tariffs continued to hurt farmers around the state. One soybean farmer said he felt frustrated after a meeting with US Department of Agriculture officials in Washington, DC, discussing the effect of tariffs on commodity prices.

"I know there were several questions presented to them, and for lack of a better word, they ignored them. I think it's a big deal in this country for our soybean farmers because they're hurting all over and these prices are way below the cost of production right now," Groton soybean farmer Chad Johnson was quoted as saying.

As the motorcade continues its journey from Iowa toward DC, organizers and participants carry a clear message: US farmers depend on exports, and prolonged trade disputes threaten the viability of American agriculture through lower prices, higher costs and fewer buyers at harvest.