WILSON COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - Farming is a livelihood for many in eastern North Carolina, but tariffs have imposed numerous threats on a business that’s dear to the hearts of so many.

“It’s huge. It’s unimaginable the hardships that they’re creating,” Wilson County farmer Pender Sharp says. “We’ve lost markets that have taken 20 years to develop. We’re losing money. Farms are going bankrupt at the highest rate ever.”

Former Governor Roy Cooper joined farmers at a roundtable on Friday to discuss the negative impact tariffs and the government shutdown have had on the farming industry.

“These tariffs don’t work,” Cooper says. “They’re being paid by consumers, businesses, and farmers here in the United States.”

Sharp says tariffs have increased input costs, such as fertilizer and equipment,

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