Is Trump Buying Farmer's Vote With Huge State Aid?

It is unthinkable in the Netherlands: a government that provides billions in direct income support to the agricultural sector year after year. In the United States, things are different, Trump does.

Reuters news agency reported Monday, Oct. 19, that by 2020, one-third of farm income in the United States will come from state aid. This is partly due to compensation for the effect of the corona outbreak on price developments and sales. Another part will be paid to compensate agricultural entrepreneurs for the consequences of trade wars that Trump has started since he took office in 2016 with Mexico and China, among others. These events have cost the agricultural sector billions in export sales, according to Reuters news agency.

Voting behavior in the Midwest crucial
Because of the unprecedented state aid to farmers, Trump is accused of buying the vote of the farmers. States where many farmers' votes can be won in the Midwest, therefore, traditionally play a decisive role in the election results. That's how it was in 2016 when Hillary Clinton seemed sure of victory for a long time and that's how it could be again now. Trump still has to catch up in the polls. But just as he was able to oppose Obama's policies in 2016, Biden now appears to be having success with his anti-Trump campaign.

Outside the big cities, in the immense countryside of America, the majority traditionally chooses the Republican presidential candidate. That is also the case this year, according to polls. Yet Biden also accounts for as much as 30% of the "rural vote," according to polls on rural voter favor. That's 5% more than people voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Biden wants an end to trade wars
The numbers are remarkable. Biden makes no mistake that with the Democrats in the White House, the American economy stops protecting its own (agricultural) economy. In addition, they want to accelerate sustainability, so that the United States will also comply with the worldwide conventions on CO2050 by 2. Biden will restore world free trade policy. His vision on the development of the agricultural sector seems to be a copy of the European 'Farm to Fork' strategy, which focuses on rewarding biodiversity, carbon sequestration and promotion of organic farming.

Yet Trump's support in rural America was greater in the 2016 polls than it is today. Without Trump's unprecedented state support, 60% of American farms would have been in financial trouble this year, according to the same poll that shows voter favor in rural America. Trump's trade policy apparently gives the agricultural sector something to think about.

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