The Farm Bill and President Trump’s tariff plan are among the hot topics discussed during the latest episode of the Agbioscience Podcast—Presented by AgriNovus Indiana and hosted by their President and CEO Mitch Frazier.
This week’s special guest is Michigan Ag Today President Eric Pfeiffer.
“It’s going to be another tough year,” says Pfeiffer. “Farmers are aware of that. They’re trying to figure out what can we do? How can we diversify? What can we do to get up over that mark?”
Pfeiffer says the number one ag policy issue in Washington, D.C. impacting farmers back here at home is a new Farm Bill—or, a lack thereof.
“This Farm Bill—we still don’t have the answers we need on that, and we need them sooner rather than later so that farmers can start making plans,” says Pfeiffer. “If I had to look into my crystal ball on that, [a new Farm Bill] us going to get pushed out. That’s not a priority right now. We have Republicans in the House, the Senate, and the White House. I think they’re confident that it will get done at some point and it’ll get done to their liking, but they’re going to tackle other priorities first such as the border and immigration. They’re going to tackle those things first before they even start thinking about a new Farm Bill.”
And even though President Trump has hit the pause button on tariffs against Canada and Mexico, there are a LOT of unknowns when it comes to how farmers could be impacted by Trump’s tariffs.
“I think there’s only one person that does know, and that’s President Trump,” says Pfeiffer. “There are more questions now about this than there were during his first Administration. Before, it was all about China. Now, we’re talking about 10 percent tariffs on China, but we’re also talking about potentially 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada—our largest trading partners to the north and south.”
“We’re also talking about issues that he wants to take on with the Panama Canal. That is a huge issue if we get into this because that’s where a number of our exports go. We’re talking about trade wars, on just about every front now, that we would be taking on all at the same time,” says Pfeiffer.
Pfeiffer also “gives his two cents” on other issues impacting farmers in 2025 on the latest episode of the AgBioscience Podcast—Presented by AgriNovus Indiana. You can hear the full podcast below!
