1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I’m a Texan who believes strongly in free markets, free trade, and the long-term strength of American agriculture. Many Iowa farmers still support President Trump personally, but they are also struggling financially because of the tariff-driven trade war. Their concerns should matter to all of us in agricultural states like Texas. Temporary aid payments are not a real long-term solution. Too often, those dollars flow straight to equipment manufacturers, seed companies, parts suppliers, fertilizer suppliers, and landlords instead of strengthening family farms. As Iowa farmer Elliott Henderson recently said: “I look at these programs where the government keeps wanting to write farmers checks, and to me, this is more medicine that’s making us sick. I’ve got 10 people standing in line who think that dollar is theirs, whether it’s the equipment manufacturer selling me more parts for my tractors or the seed guy or my landlords. I never get to keep that money.” Another Iowa farmer, Swanson, explained: “Unfortunately, the way we’ve been able to kind of survive is through the use of government payments, and that is not the way farmers want to operate. We want to find our income from the marketplace, and that means we need domestic markets, we need export markets, we need new technologies.” At the same time, another war of choice with Iran is driving up fertilizer, fuel, shipping, and input costs for American farmers. Analysts warn that disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are already tightening global fertilizer supplies and raising prices for nitrogen fertilizers and other key farm inputs. (Investing.com (https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/explainerhow-does-the-iran-war-affect-fertiliser-supplies-prices-and-food-security-4565652?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) Texas farmers and ranchers cannot absorb endless shocks from tariffs, inflation, and rising input costs. Farmers do not want permanent dependence on government checks. They want stable export markets, fair competition, affordable inputs, innovation, and the ability to succeed through the marketplace. Please support policies that reduce trade barriers, expand export opportunities, avoid unnecessary foreign conflicts that increase agricultural input costs, and encourage adoption of new agricultural technologies instead of relying on endless emergency subsidy programs. Agriculture in Texas and across the country succeeds when farmers and ranchers can compete and sell freely, not when they are trapped between tariffs, wars, and temporary bailouts.