By Lauren Necochea and Sally Toone Reader Contributors
Family farms built Idaho and grew to feed the world, but they’re being pushed to the breaking point. President Donald Trump promised to fight for America’s farmers, to bring jobs back, boost exports and revitalize rural communities. Instead, he betrayed them by driving up costs, killing markets and leaving too many Idaho families wondering if their way of life will survive.
Farm bankruptcies are at a five-year high and national farm debt is nearing $600 billion. The trade war has cost our farmers the markets where they sell their products and has also raised their production costs.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Idaho farm production rose this year, but expenses climbed twice as fast. Feed, fertilizer and fuel all cost more. In just six months, Idaho businesses paid $67 million in Trump’s tariffs — more than double the year before.
Sally Toone. Courtesy photo
At Owyhee Produce, a third-generation farm in the Treasure Valley, crops have gone unharvested after Trump’s chaotic and heavy-handed immigration raids drove away workers. “We’d love to hire locally,” said General Manager Shay Myers, “but we can’t find enough people willing to do this hard work.” Myers is a Republican but won’t stay silent when his livelihood is at risk because of GOP policies.
The Republican budget made things worse by cutting support for working families while rewarding the wealthy. More than a quarter of farmers and ranchers buy insurance on the individual market. If Republicans continue blocking the extension of health care tax credits, those families could see their premiums double overnight.
That same budget gutted services like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which feeds families and sustains rural economies. Every SNAP dollar boosts farm income and local businesses. It also cut food aid programs that bought more than 1 million tons of U.S. crops to feed people abroad and stabilize markets.
Lauren Necochea. File photo.
Trump also canceled a $59 million University of Idaho grant after work had already begun. The project would have helped farmers across Idaho adopt sustainable, weather-resilient practices while training the next generation of agricultural innovators.
Meanwhile, as Idaho farmers fight to stay afloat, Trump’s Treasury Department approved a bailout for Argentina that could total $40 billion, helping a competitor sell soybeans and other crops to the same markets our farmers lost because of his trade war. Food producers lose business while Trump doles out favors to his elite friends.
This is what happens when a president puts politics and ego before people. He has turned record harvests into record losses, driven up costs, gutted markets and handed out tax breaks to billionaires while rural America is left to fend for itself.
Idaho farmers deserve better. Democrats will keep fighting for the people who feed our state and make it strong.
Lauren Necochea is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former District 19 legislator. Necochea spent a decade leading nonprofit programs dedicated to research and advocacy in tax policy, health care and children’s issues. Sally Toone is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party’s Rural Caucus and a former District 26 legislator.
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Sandpoint in Pictures
Filmmaker Jimmy Matlosz of the Idaho Film Company has made a series of mini documentaries about influential Sandpoint locals, including the late Dann Hall and Erik Daarstad as well as icons Diane Michaels and Dan Shook. He is currently working on a series of interviews connected to the history of the Panida Theater. Jimmy is a 30-year veteran filmmaker who's work can be seen at dpmatlosz.com.
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