OMAHA (DTN) -- President Donald Trump is determined to tell everyone in agriculture that they are doing better than ever under his presidency.
At a farmer roundtable in Wisconsin, Trump also suggested his administration is looking at another possible aid package for farmers.
"We're looking at something right now to take the place of what happened," Trump said in his comments.
Trump was in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, on Friday afternoon, holding a roundtable with farmers and state Republican leaders on rural issues. There were multiple John Deere tractors and a giant banner behind the president that said, "Fighting for American Farmers."
The event gave Trump a forum to champion his economy despite Americans facing higher fuel prices and farmers dealing with higher fertilizer prices since the war in Iran began. Early in his comments, Trump said fertilizer prices would come down for farmers after the "excursion to Iran" ends.
"We're going to come out (of Iran), and your fertilizer prices are going to go way down, just like they were four months ago," Trump said.
Later in Trump's comments, he said fertilizer and fuel prices are going to come down lower than they were before the war began.
Since the war began, anhydrous ammonia prices have increased 30% to $1,118 a ton. Average retail prices for all eight fertilizers DTN tracks on a weekly basis have been higher since the war began. The administration has sought to reduce regulations on fertilizer companies that are planning expansions and announced USDA will reboot a fertilizer expansion program created by the Biden administration. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also announced in late May that the commission is investigating the country's largest fertilizer manufacturers for potential anticompetitive behavior.
Trump also championed higher job numbers, saying new employment numbers were up for four straight months. Trump repeatedly went back to the job numbers and claims he frequently makes about foreign investment in the U.S.
Trump touched on trade wars in his first administration, pointing to the $28 billion that went to farmers under the Market Facilitation Program (MFP). Trump then said his administration was looking at another payment program, coming off the $11 billion paid in March and April under the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) payments. "We're looking at increasing it," Trump said.
The president criticized inflation under the Biden administration and the lack of trade negotiations. "They didn't negotiate one new trade deal for our farmers," Trump said.
He pointed to his own deal with China that is expected to boost farm exports to the country by $17 billion, according to White House statements.
The president talked about the tax cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, which included increasing the estate-tax exemption. Trump spoke at length about farmers benefiting from the increase in the estate-tax exemption.
The president hit on his support of E15 versus electric vehicles, as well as support for farmers' right to repair their own equipment.
He also pointed to getting rid of the diesel exhaust fuel requirement.
And Trump talked about repealing the Biden-era waters of the U.S. rule, saying farmers were crying in his office when he repealed it. "'You gave us back our life,'" Trump said the farmers told him. "They actually had their lives taken away. They couldn't touch their land."
The roundtable was set up to campaign for Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Wisconsin Republican and member of the House Agriculture Committee. Van Orden is facing a potentially close challenge in November to hold his seat.
"We're going to make sure our farmers don't have to wring their hands at night because they're worried about paying the bills," Van Orden said in brief remarks. "We're doing everything we possibly can to make sure that people who aren't farmers that eat what comes off the farm don't have to wring their hands either."
Trump said average farm incomes have soared under his administration, though USDA numbers don't mesh with those comments.
As Trump touted the farm economy, USDA shows farm income will decline slightly in 2026, mainly because farmers' incomes will be buoyed by higher government payments.
USDA in May, in its latest farm income forecast, projected $153.4 billion for 2026, down $1.2 billion from 2025. Farm cash receipts are projected to drop $24.3 billion, mainly due to lower receipts in poultry and dairy sectors. Cash receipts for crops are projected to dip by about $1.8 billion, while livestock receipts are projected to fall by $22.6 billion, mainly driven by lower egg and dairy prices.
Yet, the loss in cash receipts is offset by higher direct farm payments, projected at $44.3 billion for 2026, a $13.8-billion increase from a year earlier.
With the roundtable in Wisconsin, the farm income data also shows milk receipts nationally are projected to decline by $6.3 billion, or 12.8%, from 2025 due to lower prices. Still, milk could see an uptick in demand after Trump signed a bill into law allowing whole milk in schools in January.
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