The Democratic platform was represented by Rod Snyder, former senior Environmental Protection Agency agricultural policy adviser for the Biden-Harris administration. (Screengrab of webcast) 

With the federal election less than six weeks away, Illinois farmers and agribusiness leaders are getting some answers as to where presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump stand on issues important to agriculture.  

The agriculture and rural platforms of the 2024 U.S. presidential candidates was the topic of a forum held by the National Press Club in Washington on Aug. 8. Representing the Republican platform was Kip Tom, an Indiana farmer and co-lead of the Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Coalition. Rod Snyder, former senior Environmental Protection Agency agricultural policy adviser for the Biden-Harris administration, represented the Democratic platform during the two-hour forum, which was sponsored by the Farm Foundation and moderated by Wall Street Journal reporter Kristina Peterson. 

Harris platform eyes future of agriculture, rural life 

“Agriculture and rural communities deserve this type of substantive policy discussion that is so often lacking in our current political environment,” said Snyder, moments before attacking Trump’s agricultural trade record and lack of a detailed farm policy platform. “Vice President Harris is working to build an economy where farmers, ranchers and rural communities can thrive.

“This starts with ensuring that producers of all sizes have access to diverse markets, a robust safety net, a reliable workforce, an innovation pipeline and a level playing field for competitors all around the world. It is also vitally important that rural communities, where most of our food is grown, are healthy and thriving places.” 

Snyder, who is now serving as director of EPA’s Office of Agricultural and Rural Affairs under Biden-

Kip Tom, former United Nations ambassador for food and agriculture under Donald J. Trump, represented the Republican platform. (Screengrab of webcast) 

Harris, pointed to the current administration’s achievements for rural Americans under the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act as evidence of their commitment to farmers. Most recently, Snyder continued, the administration had committed nearly $10 billion to help member-owned rural electric cooperatives provide communities with clean, reliable and affordable energy. 

“This is the single largest investment in rural electricity since FDR,” he said, referring to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s rural electrification campaign of the 1930s. “We’ve also invested more than $50 billion to improve water infrastructure including removing lead pipes, correcting wastewater and drinking water systems and addressing drought. We’ve (also) connected nearly a million rural Americans with high-speed internet through USDA’s ReConnect program.”  

Snyder cited Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as “encouraging” to agricultural stakeholders. Prior to being elected governor, Walz served six terms on the House Agriculture Committee as a member of Congress and helped write three farm bills. “This is a leader that is deeply familiar with rural America and has a reputation for working across party lines,” Snyder said. 

In contrast, a return to a Donald Trump-led White House would result in four years of “chaos and uncertainty” for the farm economy, according to Snyder.  

Wall Street Journal reporter Kristina Peterson interviews Snyder (center) and Tom during a forum held by the National Press Club in Washington on Aug. 8. (Screengrab of webcast) 

“The outlook for a second term would be even more severe,” he said. “This election is a choice between certainty and chaos for farmers and ranchers across the country. During his prior term Trump’s trade wars cost the American farmers $29 billion in lost exports in 2018 and 2019 alone, while undermining markets that took our farmers decades to build.  

“His most recent proposal for a tariff of 10-20 percent on all imported products would lead to further loss of global market share for U.S. agriculture, not to mention rapid inflation for consumers.” 

Farm labor would also suffer under Trump’s leadership due to his promise of mass deportation of undocumented migrants, Snyder said, while bipartisan bills in Congress that would address migrancy issues and farm labor have been thwarted by candidate Trump’s advice to House Republicans. 

Trump ag agenda focuses on economy 

Tom, who is a managing partner of Tom Farms, LLC and was the former United Nations ambassador for food and agriculture under Trump, began his remarks by paraphrasing former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the field,” he said. “I think when you look at agriculture today and our policymakers, we see so much policy in Washington that is enacted that is far from what we need in rural America. We need to make sure we are a reliable source of a strong economy and agriculture ecosystem.”  

Tom prefaced his ensuing remarks by acknowledging that he had not consulted with Trump or his representatives about the Republican candidate’s current farm policy.  

“I want to start off by saying I have no formal platform from the Trump campaign for 2024 on agriculture, but I can talk about his record in the past and the successes he had, and an example would be trade,” he said, pointing to the Biden-Harris administration’s reticence in rescinding Trump’s 301 agricultural trade tariffs that remain in place.  

“We saw a $26 billion to $38 billion increase in trade and we signed an $80 billion trade deal with China at the same time. And we’ve done over 50 trade deals with China during the Trump administration. I think Donald Trump is clearly the leader in making sure that we have a strong ag economy,” said Tom. 

Lacking an official agricultural platform from the Trump campaign, Tom put forth the priorities of the Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Coalition in his presentation to the National Press Club. A top priority of the Trump administration, according to the coalition, would be the “death tax” or federal inheritance tax.  

“What is being proposed today would nearly double the amount that farmers and ranchers would have to pay in inheritance taxes. It could be the most undermining issue, taking away the farms and ranches as we know them today,” said Tom. “I look at the regulatory issues in this country. Under the Biden-Harris administration, they’ve created almost $1.67 trillion of new regulations that are not only costing industries, they’re costing farmers and the American consumer. This is why we see the 30 percent inflation in grocery stores today. Kamala Harris needs look no further for (the causes of) price gouging than in the mirror at herself.” 

In contrast to more than 50 ag trade deals Tom credited the Trump administration with completing, the Biden-Harris administration has yet to complete a single deal, according to Tom.  

“This is why we see a decline in our export sales of nearly $42.5 million dollars,” he said. “And now we are seeing a decline in farmers’ income. Farm Bureau just lowered their expectations for farm income to almost 50 percent (lower) from 2022 to 2024.” 

Tom called for a “national agriculture strategy” that includes both the private and public sector to ensure the “American dream can continue for all of us.” The strategy would include expanding transportation infrastructure, reducing reliance on foreign agricultural inputs, incentive agricultural careers, improving risk management tools for farmers, immigration reform and more. 

Farm Bureau offers voting resources 

Though the Illinois Farm Bureau does not directly endorse political candidates or parties, the farmer-led organization does offer a voting resources webpage that includes state and federal election dates, voting FAQs and more. Access the farm bureau’s GoVote24 webpage at www.ilfb.org/ifb-in-action/get-out-the-vote/. 

The National Press Club forum can be viewed on demand at www.farmfoundation.org/forums/the-agricultural-platforms-of-the-cadidates-for-president-of-the-united-states/.