Trump has ‘greater good’ in mind with tariffs, Ohio farmer sayspublished at 17:24 British Summer Time
Caitriona Perry
Reporting from Ohio
Back to tariffs, which are top of the discussion list for many of the customers gathered in the Happy Daz diner in Lima, Ohio, where 71% of voters in this city voted for President Donald Trump.
But there is a mixed sense here of how he’s handling the job.
Farming and manufacturing account for 25% of the jobs in Ohio. There are around 75,000 farms in the state, but the vast majority, about 87% are family owned, not part of large corporations.
Corn, soybean and wheat farmer Ben Bowsher says he is “overall happy” with Trump’s performance, although he adds that he does not “totally agree with his delivery methods”.
As a family farmer working land that spans three generations, Bowsher acknowledges that farming is cyclical and the impact of tariffs fits that bill.
“It could raise the cost of some of our inputs. This year we had everything locked in. Typically we’re nine months to a year ahead on inputs, so we didn’t really see anything on it this year.
“But going forward into the 2026 growing season, fertiliser’s the big one. Dry fertiliser – that could have an effect on that, raising the price. On the other end, grain that is shipped overseas, our exports, we might see that export market dip down a little bit”.
Bowsher feels that, in the short term, the president’s tariffs will cause “some hardship”, but believes in the long term “the outcome is going to be positive” in the farming sector.
He believes Trump “has got the greater good of the country in mind, and so we have to trust him”.
