Farmers, a solidly Republican constituency, are scratching their heads over what they see as a barrage of friendly fire. Agriculture stands out as acutely vulnerable to President Donald Trump’s avalanche of tariffs, mass deportations and potential new regulations.

Soybean and corn farmers are panicking about Trump’s trade wars, which expose them to retaliation from China, Canada and Mexico, their most important export markets. As American Soybean Association president Caleb Ragland put it: “Tariffs are not something to take lightly and ‘have fun’ with.” That’s a direct rebuke to Trump’s suggestion that farmers sell “INSIDE of the United States” and “have fun.”

On top of this, farmers are bracing for a hit from the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services issued a report warning against the supposed dangers of key pesticides, glyphosate and atrazine. But these have been used for decades and are ubiquitous in a variety of crops grown in the United States and across the world.

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