CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wisc. — President Trump told Wisconsin farmers that his administration has delivered tax relief and record export growth, while he promised that surging fertilizer and energy costs from the Iran war will reverse within 90 days.
Mr. Trump addressed farmers Friday at a roundtable discussion flanked by officials including Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Wisconsin Republican Reps. Derrick Van Orden and Tom Tiffany, and GOP Sen. Ron Johnson.
Mr. Trump told the farmers, “You all built this country. Not the complainers, not the wise guys. You all built this country.”
The president extolled his administration’s work on ending the estate tax on family farms as well as bringing in $28 billion “for the farmers the first time.”
“We also saved … 2 million American farms from extinction by ending [the estate tax],” he said.
Mr. Trump said his administration “massively expanded crop insurance” and issued historic $12 billion in farm subsidies.
“It’s $12 billion, but it was $28 billion in my first term. So we’re looking at that right now about increasing it,” he said.
The president also promised farmers that their costs will go down in 90 days, saying, “Your fertilizer prices are going to go way down, just like they were four months ago,” adding that energy oil and gas prices would fall as well.
Farmers have been hit this year with soaring diesel and fertilizer costs partly due to the war; difficulty selling crops due to tariffs, and a persistent drought.
Mr. Trump lauded his recent foreign trade deals where, saying he has “dramatically expanded exports of American meat, poultry, soybeans, biofuels, and of course, Wisconsin dairy.”
He also described recent regulatory victories that benefitted the agriculture industry including the “right to repair.”
Mr. Trump said his administration gave farmers the “right to repair” their own equipment, as a pushback against major manufacturers like John Deere who he suggested were restricting farmers from fixing their own machinery.
Most notably, Mr. Trump said that he recently pardoned a man sentenced to seven years in jail for fixing his own equipment.
“I pardoned a man last week who was sentenced to seven years in jail because he got caught fixing his tractor,” he said.
The president made a promise to farm owner Ken Custer: “I promise, Ken, if you ever get caught fixing your tractor or truck, I will give you a pardon.”
Mr. Trump also told the farmer his administration eliminated “all unnecessary” restrictions on sales of E15.
“And I’ve made it clear that we’re going to go E15 all year round,” he said, adding, “If [Democrats] got in, they will end the ethanol industry in one swoop.”
E15 is gasoline blended with 15% ethanol, compared to the standard E10 blend. It is significant to corn farmers and ethanol producers because wider E15 adoption increases demand for corn-based ethanol.
Previously, EPA regulations restricted E15 sales during summer months due to air quality concerns.
The roundtable comes just weeks after Mr. Trump visited China and struck a deal in which Beijing committed to buy at least $17 billion in U.S. agriculture products, including beef imports, over the next three years. However, Beijing had not confirmed the deal.
Earlier this year, Mr. Trump announced the federal government will guarantee loans for food suppliers and farmers in a move to boost the battered American agriculture industry.
The loan guarantees will cover vegetable and grain seed farmers; cattle, pig, poultry and egg producers; and grocery wholesalers, the White House said Friday.
American farmers have overwhelmingly supported Mr. Trump. In 2024, he won 444 counties across the country labeled as farm-dependent by 78%.
• Kerry Picket reported from Washington. Jeff Mordock is traveling with the president.
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