Farmers looking to become more environmentally friendly may find it more expensive during a second Trump administration, even with the help of the federal government.
That’s one scenario economists and policy experts are drawing from President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, which includes high tariffs on foreign goods and other measures that tend to push domestic prices higher.
For agriculture, inflation hits in one place that’s received little attention — conservation — according to a University of Illinois professor and former Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee staffer. That poses a challenge for lawmakers trying to reach a new five-year farm bill, most likely next year.
Jonathan Coppess, the committee’s chief counsel for Democratic Chair Debbie Stabenow of Michigan from 2011 to 2013, said farmers have faced higher costs in the past few years for starting practices like cover crops, which prevent erosion and build healthier soil when the main cash crop isn’t in the ground.
