Trump Delivers Farmaggedon

I used to look forward to the first shipments of Iowa sweet corn at the grocery store. It was a sign that BBQ season had arrived in the north. Not this year. When I saw the big bins of MADE IN USA corn, I walked right past.

So did many others.

The days of looking for the easiest and cheapest deals are over. It seemed so much better to wait a few weeks for Canadian corn to hit the stores. This is the face of the anti-MAGA boycott at the micro level. And it shows no sign of slowing down.

Economic analysis indicates that the boycott has shifted from a protest action to a complete reworking of our economic relationship with the United States. Canadians have moved on, and they are not going back.

At the macro level, however, the boycott has become an existential threat to American agriculture. It is sending shockwaves through the MAGA voting base.

Consider the reports of huge containers of American grain left sitting on the docks of foreign ports. Once the port authorities see the MADE IN USA stickers, they want more documentation. Or they want the shipment to be subject to tests for potential pesticides. Or they simply say that the contracts have been cancelled. Turn it around.

Such incidents are occurring in ports worldwide. Markets that were dominated by American agriculture are shutting their doors.

This is a year of record harvests, and yet the United States farm economy is facing a stunning collapse. They are calling it “Farmaggedon”. People in farm country aren’t buying machinery or supplies. Farm failures are spiking. Suicides in rural communities are on the rise. This perfect storm has nothing to do with normal global cycles: it is the result of one man.

Trump promised to go after “migrants,” and so now there is no one to get crops off the fields in the peach and grape fields. He said the USA didn’t need anything from Canada when western American farmers are heavily dependent on potash fertilizer and supplies from their northern neighbours. He promised a big, beautiful tariff war that is creating chaos with the family farm’s tight margins and input costs.

But the most significant impact is coming from the sudden collapse of markets that have loyally purchased USA agriculture for decades.

In less time than it takes to say “Make America Great Again,” the world turned its back on American grain, soybeans, corn, vegetables, and fruit. Florida orange juice sales to Canada have collapsed, and Canadian consumers have quickly adapted to an alternate source.

The speed of the decline of American dominance in agriculture is unprecedented. But it was all so predictable.

In April, Trump promised “Liberation Day” with a 145% tariff on China. The Chinese responded with a total ban on soybean purchases. A $13 billion market evaporated overnight. Soybean farmers have been left scrambling to deal with the massive inventory they can’t sell.

Similar collapses are seen in corn and grains. In the market for fresh greens, the United States counts on Canadian sales. That’s over. Stores have learned that consumers want their produce sourced either locally or from countries like Mexico.

Pesticides are another reason for MAGA’s ongoing damage to the American brand. MAGA politicians were more than willing to bend to corporate lobbyists to loosen the regulations on agricultural pesticides. They pounded their chests and promised to “cut red tape” and fight “woke” environmental policies. Now they’re discovering that other markets, such as the EU, are unwilling to purchase their product.

Both Canada and Mexico have quickly stepped up to fill the void.

With promises of traceability and higher standards, Canada is reassuring international consumers by presenting itself as a reliable and democratic partner. A recent headline in The Western Producer noted that this is shaping up to be a record year for Canadian farm exports.

As the U.S. faces Farmaggedon, Canadian farmers are expanding corn operations to meet the increasing global demand. Canadian corn and other products are finding buyers in the traditionally solid US markets of Ireland, the UK and Spain.

American farmers voted in huge numbers for Trump. So far, they seem to trust his promises that his tariff war will somehow deliver for them. What they fail to realize is that while they might like their president, the rest of the world hates his guts, and that is not about to change. That is why their markets have abandoned them.

There is a huge opportunity for Canada if we play this right. As for the MAGA heartland, they need to wake up. Farmaggedon is here, and Trump delivered it.

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