Plain Talk: 'The fringe is getting more attention than they are'

MINOT — Farmers and ranchers are in a particularly vulnerable spot amid this protracted shutdown of the federal government.

President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies have driven up the cost of doing business and complicated access to international markets, even as crop prices have come in below profitable levels. Trump's push to prop up Argentinian President Javier Milei, an admirer and populist ally, through direct cash bailouts and quadrupling the beef imports from that country have also made life difficult for North Dakota ranchers at a time when farm and ranch bankruptcies are soaring.

Also, farmers and ranchers, who typically don't have access to employer-backed health insurance policies, are major users of the insurance marketplace created by Obamacare. Federal subsidies