Red state GOPer tells farmers Trump trade policies have 'turned members of Congress off'

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley joined an Iowa Farmers Union virtual town hall on Monday to discuss federal actions that have impacted farmers in Iowa, including freezes on grant programs and imposed foreign tariffs.

Aaron Lehman, IFU president who moderated the call, said farmers are feeling the effects of the top-down changes on their bottom lines and their ability to innovate as planting season approaches.

Grassley, who also serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, said Congress needs to pass a farm bill this year to give farmers certainty.

“Certainty for farmers, looking ahead five years is very important,” Grassley said. “And I hope that the new Congress can deliver a five-year farm bill.”

He said he expects fewer hearings this year to make sure the bill gets done soon.

Executive orders from President Donald Trump have put billions of program funding and grants on hold for farmers.

Lehman said members he has spoken with feel like  ”the rug’s being pulled out from underneath them” as they wait to find out if a contract they had already signed will be honored or not.

Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman at the union’s annual conference Dec. 7, 2024 in Ames. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Grassley said the farm program freezes are set for 90 days while the expenditures are reviewed.

“Obviously if it was a total dilution, or elimination, of those monies that’d be catastrophic for conservation,” Grassley said. “It’d be catastrophic for the family farmers.”

The senator said he is supportive of the review process, which he commended for the exposure of some government spending. He said the country needs “a deep look at every penny that’s being spent in the federal government.”

Grassley said every administration has “some abeyance” of expenditures and hiring, but the second term for Trump has been “a little more abrupt.”

Lehman said farmers are feeling the crunch before planting season and hope the 90 days can come a little faster.

“ I’m going to tell everybody at the Department of Agriculture (that) in my part of the state, people start planting corn around April 15th, April 20th,” Grassley said in response.

Trade concerns

Lehman said Iowa farmers are also stressed in anticipation of increased input costs because of foreign trade issues.

Trump has tariffs in place on China and proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada, that are set to take effect Tuesday.

Grassley said he has usually been in the majority of his fellow lawmakers as a proponent of free trade, but now he finds himself in the minority with that opinion.

“ I’m very disconcerted,” Grassley said. “ I’m not going to give up speaking about the importance of trade, particularly for agriculture.”

Grassley said rather than focusing on the big countries “ where maybe we’ll never have satisfactory trading negotiations” the U.S. should look to the other dozens of countries  ”where we can make some progress.”

The senator said the “protectionist” stance taken by the first Trump administration and then the Biden administration has “turned members of Congress off” from considering free trade agreements, and he hopes to change that mindset.

Grassley said already he has met with Jamieson Greer, the newly appointed U.S. trade representative, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss the same topics.

He encouraged Iowans to reach out to his office and share the impact that federal policy has on their lives.

“When it comes to representative government, you can’t have too much communication,” Grassley said.

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