Farmers' worries sprout as Trump's tariffs spike fertilizer prices
Agriculture industry representatives have been hesitant to publicly criticize Trump's tariff policies. But some of them have spent the last few months quietly lobbying Republican lawmakers and administration officials to help ease the impact on fertilizer, which can account for more than 30 percent of row crop farmers' input costs.
The National Corn Growers Association and 25 state corn grower groups sent a letter earlier this month to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asking for action to lower fertilizer prices, which they say are 'approaching disastrous levels.'
Advertisement
'Unfortunately, the combination of the low corn prices, trade uncertainty, and consistently high costs for fertilizers and inputs, including relevant countervailing duties, have resulted in a calamitous environment for farmers who are trying to plan for harvest and next season,' the groups wrote.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
a minute ago
- Chicago Tribune
Here's where all the legal cases against President Donald Trump stand since his return to the White House
Before he battled his way back to the White House, President Donald Trump was in court battling a slew of civil lawsuits and criminal charges that threatened to upend his finances and take away his freedom. Those cases have mostly abated since his return to office, albeit with some loose ends. On Thursday, Trump declared 'total victory' after an appeals court threw out a massive financial penalty in New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit alleging that he exaggerated his wealth and the value of marquee assets like Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago. Other punishments affecting Trump's business still apply, but they can be paused pending further appeals. Since Trump's reelection in November, four separate criminal cases — including his hush money conviction and allegations of election interference and illegally hoarding classified documents — have either been dropped, resolved or put aside. On the civil side, several high-profile lawsuits against Trump have been quietly working their way through the appeals process. Here's a look at some of Trump's criminal and civil cases and where they stand now: Trump became the first former U.S. president convicted of felonies when a New York jury found him guilty in May 2024 of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. Though Trump could have faced jail time, Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan in January sentenced him instead to what's known as an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction on the books but sparing him any punishment. Trump is appealing the conviction. Trump was set to take office just days later, and Merchan said he had to respect Trump's upcoming legal protections as president, even wishing him 'Godspeed as you assume your second term in office.' In August 2023, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 others with participating in a scheme to illegally try to overturn his narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Willis cited Trump's January 2021 phone call to Georgia's secretary of state, an effort to replace Georgia's Democratic presidential electors with ones who would vote for Trump, harassment of a Fulton County election worker and the unauthorized copying of data and software from elections equipment. But the case stalled over revelations Willis had been in a relationship with the man she appointed to prosecute it. A state appeals court in December removed Willis from the case. She has appealed that decision to the Georgia Supreme Court, but even if the high court takes the case and decides in her favor, it's unlikely she can pursue criminal charges against Trump while he's in office. Special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump in August 2023 with conspiring to overturn the results of his election loss to President Joe Biden in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors allege Trump and his allies knowingly pushed election fraud lies to push state officials to overturn Biden's win and pressured Vice President Mike Pence to disrupt the ceremonial counting of electoral votes. But Smith moved to drop the case after Trump won reelection in November. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. In a separate prosecution, Smith charged Trump in June 2023 with illegally retaining classified documents he took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after he left office in January 2021, and then obstructing government demands to give them back. Prosecutors filed additional charges the following month, accusing Trump of showing a Pentagon 'plan of attack' to visitors at his golf club in New Jersey. Smith also moved to drop that case after Trump's election victory. In May 2023, a federal jury found that Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million. In January 2024, a second jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages for comments Trump had made about her while he was president, finding that they were defamatory. Trump is appealing that decision. He also appealed the first jury decision, but a federal appeals court in December upheld it and then declined in June to reconsider. Trump still can try to get the Supreme Court to hear his appeal. On Thursday, a five-judge panel of New York's mid-level Appellate Division overturned Trump's whopping monetary penalty in James' lawsuit while narrowly endorsing a lower court's finding that he engaged in fraud by padding his wealth on financial statements provided to lenders and insurers. The judges ruled that the penalty — which soared to $515 million with interest tacked on each day — violated the U.S. Constitution's ban on excessive fines. At the same time, they left in place other punishments, including a bans on Trump and his two eldest sons from serving in corporate leadership for a few years. The decision will almost certainly be appealed to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, and the upheld punishments can be paused until that court rules.
Axios
a minute ago
- Axios
Florida ordered to undo Alligator Alcatraz due to environmental risks
A federal judge in a ruling Thursday night prohibited state and federal officials from bringing new detainees to Alligator Alcatraz, the hastily built immigration detention site in the Everglades. The ruling also demanded the state begin dismantling elements of the facility — including temporary fencing, lighting fixtures and generators, among other equipment — within 60 days. Why it matters: U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams' 82-page ruling delivers a blow to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Trump, who applauded the facility and encouraged other states to replicate it. Catch up quick: Shortly after DeSantis administration officials announced plans for the facility, environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe sued, arguing it violated the National Environmental Policy Act. The law requires that environmental studies be conducted before any "major" federal action or construction project. The groups had requested that the site be temporarily shut down while the lawsuit played out. Construction was paused earlier this month, following a judge's order. Both the DeSantis and Trump administrations have said the facility has had zero impact on the environment, citing the airstrip that was already on the site before they built the facility. Yes, but: The court cited expert testimony that repurposing the site has resulted in "a myriad of risks" to its sensitive surroundings, including runoff and wastewater discharge that could harm the Everglades. She noted testimony indicating the new lighting alone had reduced the habitat for the protected Florida panther by 2,000 acres. Williams also noted that testimony from the Miccosukee Tribe indicated that its members lost access to trails they'd previously used for hunting and harvesting ceremonial and medicinal plants. The bottom line: Williams concluded the state failed to evaluate the impact of expanding that airstrip into a detention facility and "consulted with no stakeholders or experts and did no evaluation of the environmental risks." "Here, there weren't 'deficiencies' in the agency's process," Williams wrote. "There was no process." What they're saying: "This is a landmark victory for the Everglades and countless Americans who believe this imperiled wilderness should be protected, not exploited," said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "It sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest levels of our government — and there are consequences for ignoring them." The other side: Shortly after the ruling was issued, Florida's Division of Emergency Management executive director Kevin Guthrie appealed.
Bloomberg
2 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
South Korean Leader's Japan Visit to Set Stage for Trump Summit
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is set to embark on his first overseas trip focusing on bilateral diplomacy this weekend starting with a rare Japan visit that will likely set the stage for his first meeting with President Donald Trump in the US days later. Leaders from South Korea almost always choose the US, the country's key security ally, as their first destination abroad after taking office. The decision to head to Tokyo to meet Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba before meeting with Trump on Monday is all the more unexpected given Lee's reputation as a fierce critic of Japan before he became president.
