Iowa farmers are taking to social media to complain about Donald Trump’s anti-family policies, saying they are being asked to contribute money for their farms.
Farmers and agribusiness groups have been lobbying Trump to remove protections for migrant farm workers and roll back protections for workers in the food sector, which is in particular hot under the spotlight after Trump’s executive order on Wednesday that barred migrant farmworkers from entering the country and suspended the country’s visa program for foreign workers.
But they have been frustrated with Trump’s policies on farm and food, according to a report by Axios.
Iowa farmers have been saying that the farm bill was not as generous as they had hoped.
They say they are now paying more to buy produce and meat, which have been on the decline since Trump took office, and they say they’re being asked for cash contributions to offset the cost of farm equipment.
The farmers group, Iowa Farmers Association, said it had been working with the Iowa State Farm Bureau, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and other stakeholders to craft its pitch.
They said the farm program has lost $1 billion since 2016, and the association plans to ask Congress for a supplemental appropriation to help cover the losses.
The farm group said they’re also trying to contact farmworkers to make sure they know they are eligible for a refund if they work in the agriculture industry, and to tell them how to apply for a tax credit.
In the past, the association has been working closely with the Farm Bureau on issues that would help farmworkers, such as better training, but it said it is not working with Trump on these issues.
The association’s executive director, Jim Lomax, said the group is working with other farm groups to make a case to the administration that they are entitled to a refund.
Farm groups have also been reaching out to lawmakers and advocacy groups to raise awareness about the farm programs, including one that is running a Facebook page for farmers to help them make a point about the program.
The Iowa Farm Bureau said it was not involved in this effort and that the association was not authorized to speak on behalf of the program to lawmakers or the media.