For struggling American farmers, help from the incoming Trump administration cannot come too soon. Farm income nosedived by nearly a quarter over the past two years, falling $6.5 billion last year alone, making it even more difficult for these farms merely to break even.
That downturn ripples out into rural communities that have long formed the backbone of Trump’s base. Makers of tractors and combines have seen demand crater; major food processors have laid off thousands of workers; the farmland real estate market is teetering; and farm bankruptcies are expected to climb.
With the outlook darkening, farmers and those whose livelihoods rely on them are keen to hear solutions from Brooke Rollins, Trump’s nominee for secretary of agriculture who is awaiting Senate confirmation.
The good news for Rollins and other agricultural policymakers is that the seeds of an American farm revival are already at hand. Breakthroughs in farming science, enabled by biotechnology innovations, have put food producers in a position to thrive. The incoming Trump team can guarantee this turnaround -- securing our food security domestically and our agricultural dominance globally -- by championing the industry fostering these game-changers.
That begins with embracing the role of genetic engineering and editing in agriculture. The technology is already unlocking a new era of dramatic improvements in crop yields, nutritional value, disease and pest resistance, and costs. The more consumers learn about these benefits, the more enthusiastic they become about the products: Four in five Americans whose opinions have changed report they now hold a more positive view, according to Morning Consult. The Trump administration should commit to ensuring the U.S. maintains its position at the vanguard of this revolution by partnering with the biotech industry and encouraging support of science.
From there, Trump’s campaign pledge to slash onerous regulations choking American businesses holds enormous promise for biotech entrepreneurs and the farmers eager to work with them. Biotech startups offering transformational advancements confront a complex regulatory framework that eats up more than a third of the cost of commercializing new products.
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The time burden is even heavier, with federal approval typically stretching past eight years. Some companies have not made it through this “valley of death,” as funding (and thereby staffing) languishes without regulatory certainty or delays in approvals. Streamlining this process while ensuring both safety and efficacy would provide immediate returns for food growers, consumers, and the administration itself.
However, the bureaucratic headaches for biotechnology pioneers don’t end with product approvals. Entrepreneurs must continue to navigate a complicated oversight regime, with three separate agencies — the Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency — sharing overlapping authority. The result is an inefficient and frequently duplicative system that creates unnecessary compliance costs for startups that can scarcely afford them. It is past time to rationalize this structure.
These initiatives deserve the urgency of the national security imperative they represent. A nation that can’t feed itself cannot secure itself, and the share of the U.S. food supply imported from abroad has been climbing at an alarming rate. Most of our fresh fruit — 60 percent — is now grown abroad, and we import 38 percent of our vegetables, nearly double the amount we sourced from foreign countries in 2007. Foreign-raised beef has also doubled its share of the U.S. market in the last decade.
Reversing this trend would seal a powerful victory for American farmers and ranchers, among Trump’s most stalwart supporters. In the 2024 election, the country’s most farming-dependent counties backed him by an average of 78 percent, up two points since 2020. Now, they need his help. Delivering for them would benefit us all.
Sylvia Wulf is the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s interim head of agriculture and environment.