A top Republican senator is warning that farmers are already feeling the financial squeeze from rising energy prices tied to the U.S. military conflict with Iran.
Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, said Monday that farmers, a key constituency for President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, will soon need additional federal aid as costs for gasoline, diesel, and fertilizer surge.
“I think very definitely that they’re going to need additional help,” Boozman told Bloomberg in an interview at the Capitol. “If you’re growing something in the ground right now, you’re losing money.”
The Arkansas Republican said he was already eyeing a potential farm aid package before the latest war-driven price spike, citing weather-related damage and disaster relief in states including California and North Carolina, Bloomberg reported Monday.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has been weighing options to address rising oil and gasoline prices.
“President Donald Trump said Monday he plans to have the US Navy escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz to protect them against Iranian attack, which could ease passage for oil tankers,” the outlet said. “Trump also said he planned to waive oil-related sanctions without giving specifics, though he acknowledged the issue came up in a call earlier in the day with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.”
The Trump administration’s tariffs have also added to the financial strain on farmers. Last month, a group of agriculture experts warned that U.S. farmers were already in financial trouble due in part to Trump’s global trade war.
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