‘It’s a Band-Aid on a much larger wound:’ Iowa farm groups discuss Trump’s $12B payment

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - President Trump’s $12 billion payment to farmers is meant to alleviate hardship after a year of shifting tariffs and fluctuating federal funding along with the government shutdown.

“It’s a Band-Aid on a much larger wound, which is chronically unstable markets for American farmers,” Tommy Hexter with the Iowa Food System Coalition, said.

Hexter says, even with the payment, farmers are continuing to struggle as it’s difficult to plan ahead with the ever-changing international trade policy.

“It’s a Band-Aid on a much larger wound, which is chronically unstable markets for American farmers,” Hexter said.

Stu Swanson, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, has seen that struggle first-hand while running his own soybean farm.

“Working through a reset on trade around the world is certainly nerve wracking to to be part of,” Swanson said.

Ultimately, while these payments will help, Swanson says farmers aren’t doing their jobs for government payments -- instead they want a stable market to work in.

“Agriculture works better when we have some consistency,” Swanson said.

Hexter suggests, to avoid the issue of international trade in general, Iowa farmers should start selling locally and domestically. He also encourages shoppers to go the extra mile to shop locally to support local producers.

The payments are meant to be dispersed by late February.