Farmers give Trump brutal disapproval score — but still stick with GOP

Farmers and ranchers are not happy with President Donald Trump's impact on their business, giving him a brutal new disapproval rating, but according to the same poll, they are still likely to stick by the Republican Party, prompting one reporter to say they deserve "no sympathy."

Agricultural workers and leaders have long aligned with the GOP and broke for Trump in a big way in 2024. Ever since his return, however, his policies have wreaked havoc on the U.S. farming industry, with tariffs causing key overseas markets to dry up, while also causing the costs of things like equipment and fertilizer to explode. Trump's trade war with China, specifically, caused catastrophic damage to the ability of U.S. farmers to sell their soybeans.

Things became so dire at one point that Trump was in talks to provide a $12 billion bailout to struggling farmers.

On Friday, Amato Advisors released a new poll surveying farmers and ranchers about the effect of Trump's policies on their operations and livelihoods, with 55 percent saying that they have been negatively impacted. Only 19 percent said that they have been positively impacted, with 26 percent saying that they were either unsure or saw no effect.

"A new poll commissioned by Amato Advisors and conducted by Farm Journal finds that American farmers — an overwhelmingly Republican-leaning constituency — are sending Washington a clear distress signal on the cost of farming, tariff damage, Iran War and a federal government they say does not understand the realities of life on a farm," Amato's report on the poll explained. "The Farmer & Rancher Policy Sentiment Survey, fielded in April 2026, surveyed 974 farmers and ranchers across 44 states. The findings reveal a producer base in deep economic strain and high political motivation heading into the 2026 midterm election."

Despite that brutal sentiment, as the Politics & Poll Tracker X account highlighted, the respondents said that they trusted Republicans on trade policy over Democrats by a 22-point margin.

"They deserve no sympathy," Daily Kos reporter Emily C. Singer wrote about the poll in a post to X. "They get what they vote for."

However, the report also noted a considerable number of respondents were considering crossing the political divide in the upcoming midterm elections. While 15 percent of respondents said that they "always" vote Republican and 35 percent said that they "usually" do, Amato noted that 4 in 10 of them said that they are "they are either considering voting for a different party or are unsure who they will vote for."

"Farmers overwhelmingly point to input costs (i.e. fertilizer, fuel, seed, chemicals, etc.) as the biggest challenge for their operations, the report detailed. "Almost all farmers – 94 percent – say the Iran War will impact their business by raising fertilizer costs, fuel costs, or both."

It added later: "Many farmers have a pessimistic view of politics and politicians, seeing elected officials as out of touch and the major parties as unable to effectively address agricultural issues."

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