Since our country’s founding, American farmers have been the backbone of the national economy. Farmers across the country work diligently every day to grow food that feeds not just Americans, but also populations across the globe who depend on these crops.
Recent cuts to U.S. international aid have dissolved some of the key international markets that American farmers depend on, and in turn, upended farmers’ security and stability.
At the Stockyards Ag Experience, we aim to teach South Dakota’s public and visitors about the important role of agriculture in feeding Americans, building a strong economy and strengthening society. We believe that education and awareness can protect the future of farming and ensure that rural farmers in our state remain secure for generations to come. Connecting people to the food they eat and the producers that grow it builds community.
For centuries, rural South Dakotans have developed communities around swathes of land used to grow food and raise cattle for countless consumers. South Dakota has more than 42 million acres of farmland. Agriculture is our number one industry, employing a substantial number of South Dakotans and upholding our entire state economy. The dollars that farming funnels into our economy are spent on many essential goods and services, benefiting the entire state.
That being said, our farmers cannot survive on domestic business alone. Exporting key agricultural products and commodities is an essential way for farmers to maintain profits and earn a living for their families. Which in turn, keeps our rural communities thriving.
In 2022, our state exported $5.4 billion in farm goods such as corn, soybeans, feed grains and more. Sixty percent of soybeans grown in our state are sold to international buyers.
Farmers depend on global markets and the longstanding international partnerships they have developed to sell their crops to these markets. However, recent cuts to U.S. foreign aid programs put many of those partnerships at risk.
In 2020, the federal government purchased around $2 billion of food aid from American farmers. Roughly 40 percent of all U.S. international food assistance is produced by American farmers and manufacturers. Recent cuts to foreign aid could significantly reduce these numbers.
This month, the State Department announced the termination of 83 percent of USAID contracts. Farmers in similar states like Kansas are already sounding the alarm over how these cuts will affect them and the merchandisers they sell their crops to. South Dakota farmers aren’t immune to these changes either–many farmers in our state are at risk of losing key purchasers of commodities like wheat and soybeans.
The process of dismantling USAID, which included an aid freeze announced in January before the cuts announced in March, has been characterized by a lack of transparency and rash decision-making that don’t consider all the long-term effects of cutting U.S. international assistance. For this reason, we still don’t know the full impact of the cuts on South Dakota’s farmers and businesses and may not know them until next season, when farmers throughout the country have plentiful crops but not enough buyers.
Farming is not for the faint of heart. It’s hard labor subject to the whims of storms and weather that requires backbreaking work day after day. I know this firsthand as a “farm kid” who watched her parents take on the ups and downs of production agriculture. The federal government has no place making it even harder.
Many farmers find solace in the shared history of their profession and the fact that their hard work helps other people put food on the table for their families. Farmers whose crops went to U.S. international assistance knew they were playing a role in helping the world’s most vulnerable children and adults survive. They knew they were helping people.
Cuts to foreign assistance hurt everyone involved in the programs working to end world hunger and help malnourished populations abroad. As a result of these cuts, not only will global populations be left without life-saving food, but American farmers and manufacturers will also be left without a key source of income.
While I can appreciate efforts to find inefficiencies and cut waste in the systems that distribute international aid, I can’t get behind cutting programs that hurt American farming communities like the ones we have here in South Dakota.
Foreign aid partnerships strengthen our agricultural sector and keep our farmers afloat. By recommitting to essential foreign aid programs, the United States can guarantee continued prosperity for this vital sector of our economy.
— Abby Bischoff is executive director of Stockyards Ag Experience, a museum that showcases the story of agriculture in our economy and society.