It’s harvest time in the Midwest and farmers are bringing in bumper crops of soybeans, corn and wheat. They should be elated.

But their best customers are shopping elsewhere as a result of a global trade war ignited by President Donald Trump. Punishing tariffs have created what some are calling “Farmaggedon.”

And the damage goes beyond tariffs. Trump’s dismantling of USAID and cuts to SNAP, the nutritional program for the poor, have also hit two major outlets for American farmers’ goods.

Suffering farmers

Soybeans are this country’s largest agricultural export, valued at more than $24 billion in 2024, with about half usually going to China. China has made no purchases from this harvest. Soybeans are piling up across the Midwest, spilling out of bins and grain elevators from North Dakot

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