Farmers in North Carolina share concerns about tariffs' effects on their businesses after a hard agricultural year

North Carolina farmers worry about tariff effects. 
(Adobe Stock Photo)

President Trump's tariff policies are affecting farmers' harvest plans, and some of them are concerned about the stability of their profits.

Cleve Wootson Jr. wrote in an article for the Washington Post that in North Carolina, farmers are struggling.

“Midway through the spring planting season, farmers in a state whose electoral votes went to Trump in the past three elections are struggling with the unpredictability of his tariffs, which threaten their access to foreign markets and add a heavy dose of uncertainty to an already capricious undertaking. The presidential complications are simultaneously logistical, economic and political,” reported Wootson.

The added stress of new and changing tariffs are not helping an “already difficult agricultural year” in a state that has been hit with a hurricane and drought affecting the whole state, according to what Democratic state representative, Eric Ager, told Wootson.

Eric's brother, Jamie, farms just outside of Asheville and said he, his customers, and colleagues are feeling the stress. Jamie told Wootson that while farmers “are worried that their crops will be taxed out of overseas business,” restaurants he sells to have raised their prices, and a school he provides beef to has had to stop the program that allowed them that opportunity.

These worries rub salt in the wound of farmers who are also having a harder time getting “assistance with support and subsidy programs” due to cuts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

When it comes to the economy, many rural Americans feel left out of the conversation, study groups suggest

When it comes to the economy, rural Americans tend to
feel unheard. (The Daily Yonder photo)

When news outlets claim the U.S. economy has shown "surprising resilience" or robust job growth, their analysis often neglects rural Americans, leaving people feeling more marginalized and unheard, The Daily Yonder polling found. Daily Yonder Publisher Dee Davis outlines their research efforts and gives voice to some rural experiences and needs. Below is a condensed version of his commentary based on the polling and discussions with rural residents.

"For the last couple of years, we have been working with groups around the country to get a sense of what rural communities were feeling about the economy. Are country people hurting? Are they optimistic? Is it the same old up one day and down the next? As part of our research, we have commissioned polling, conducted eight focus groups in four states, and shared what we have found with policy professionals and political analysts. As the fog begins to lift, here is what I see.

"My uncle used to tell me he was too poor to pay attention. News that the economy is rip-roaring, with crashing unemployment and rising wages, is lost on most rural Americans we surveyed right now, even with those who say they are better off than before. The price of things — a gallon of gas, a dozen of eggs — has knocked rural communities off course and money is not what it used to be.

"And a measurable part of the rural population is pissed. They have had it with oil companies, drug makers, and distant corporations who care not a whit what country people are going through. Rural people are of two minds about government in that, one, they want it out of the way, and two, they want it to intervene to create new jobs in rural America.

The following are comments made by participants in the focus group sessions. "Focus group participant from Wisconsin: 'It's really difficult not to fall into the trap . . . where you really do start to internalize it and think 'Well I must be a failure, because I don't have what my parents had. I certainly don't have what my grandparents had.'. . . A participant from Kentucky: 'I'm in survival mode every day.'. . . Participant from Ohio: "I'm really worried about the kids because it's way worse than a lot of people realize. Like so many of them are depressed and anxious and don't know what to do. Losing hope, being suicidal. I mean children, like little children even, we are not even talking teenagers. And they need hope. They need to see something get better. Some reason to become an adult.'

"Our analysis of these rural focus groups showed us:

• People want to share their stories and be heard, but they often feel ignored: misunderstood and maligned by the media.
• People are struggling with loss — loss of status, wealth, a valued role — but they try not to give in to despair.
• People will act out of hope in situations where they can receive and offer community support. Being of service to others is a valued purpose.
• People in our groups want to push back against partisan politics and culture war rhetoric."

Go here to read the about the complete polling analysis.

Pandemic stress could prompt spike in rural mental health problems and suicides; see county-level estimates

Estimated additional deaths of despair between 2020-2029 (Click the image to enlarge it)

Mental health issues and deaths of despair, or those caused by depression-related suicide or substance abuse, have been increasing over the past decade, but stress from the pandemic could cause a spike in such deaths, according to a recent paper by the Well Being Trust, a mental health and substance abuse research nonprofit, and the Robert Graham Center, a primary care research organization affiliated with the American Academy of Family Physicians.

An increase in deaths of despair could disproportionately affect rural residents, who are at a higher risk of such deaths. Racial and ethnic minorities and people with lower incomes are also at higher risk, especially those with more than one risk factor.

The paper considers nine possible future scenarios, including ones with quick economic recovery, slow economic recovery, and somewhere in between, along with other factors. The fastest recovery could result in an additional 27,644 deaths of despair, and the slowest recovery could lead to an additional 154,037 deaths of despair, according to the paper.

The authors suggest ways to mitigate the increase in deaths of despair, including finding ways to decrease social isolation. Read more here.

What can encourage more people to live in rural areas? Broadband, education, training and something cool

Tom Still

It's well-known that rural areas are losing population to cities, caused by factors like the economy, health care access, infrastructure issues, schools and culture. What can stabilize rural communities and lure more people to live there? The issue calls to mind the 1919 song "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)", Tom Still writes for Inside Wisconsin. Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.

One measure of the challenges: nearly 35 percent of rural counties are seeing long-term, significant population loss, according the University of New Hampshire's Carsey School of Public Policy. Those counties now have a total population of 6.2 million, a third less than they did in 1950. "In all, the New Hampshire researchers reported 746 counties representing 24% of all U.S. counties are losing people and 91% of them are rural. That means just 9% of urban counties are depopulating," Still writes. But, he notes, "Not all rural counties are losing people. More than 35% of rural counties have grown for decades, led by those near cities or centers for retirement and recreation."

Better broadband access is a bedrock must for bringing in more young people, since most depend on the internet for jobs, friends, and access to the world in general. Businesses, too, rely on dependable, affordable broadband, Still writes. Bringing in more workers for those new employers will likely require better access to higher education or career training. And, those workers will need somewhere to live, so increasing available housing matters too, Still writes.

"Finally, rural America must combat its image of not being cool," Still writes. "Many educated young people think they won’t find others like themselves in rural settings, but that’s not necessarily so, based on a survey by the American Enterprise Institute. In fact, the survey found that a smaller percentage of educated rural residents wanted to move elsewhere than the percentage of urban residents who wanted to leave."