Reps. Cleaver, DeLauro, and 30 House Lawmakers Call for Additional Support to Small and Specialty Farmers

(Washington, D.C.) – This week, U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), along with 30 other House Democrats, called on the Trump administration to include small and specialty crop farms if the Administration moves forward with any federal effort to provide economic relief for farm losses due to President Trump’s trade wars.

“This is a crisis, and it is worsening every day,” the legislators wrote. “If your Administration moves forward with plans to provide economic relief to large farmers suffering due to high input costs and lost export markets, you must not forget about small and medium-sized farms, family farms, and specialty crop farmers. These farmers are vital to local economies and are the backbone of our nation’s food supply. They provide fresh fruit and vegetables to local stores, feed our families, and power rural communities by creating jobs and supporting local businesses. The loss of even more small farms will devastate communities, restrict the food supply, and have long-term economic and food security ramifications for the United States and for the world.”

The president’s trade wars have closed access to critical foreign markets that American producers depend on, lowering the value of crops like soybeans, which are Missouri’s largest commodity crop, and driving up farm bankruptcies. The value of U.S. soybean exports to China never fully recovered after the U.S. tariff war with China in President Trump’s first term, when the value of U.S. soybean exports to China plunged from $14 billion in 2016 to $3.1 billion in 2018. At the same time the soybean markets are under threat, farmers are being hit with higher input costs from Trump’s tariff war.

The letter was co-signed by Representatives Alma Adams (D-NC), Gabe Amo (D-RI), Becca Balint (D-VT), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Julia Brownley (D-CA), André Carson (D-IN), Ed Case (D-HI), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Shomari Figures (D-AL), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Josh Harder (D-CA), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Bill Keating (D-MA), Greg Landsman (D-OH), John Larson (D-CT), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Patrick Ryan (D-NY), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Eric Sorensen (D-IL), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Jill Tokuda (D-HI), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ).

Official text of the letter is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.