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To the editor:

Regarding the Oct. 8 news story “Farmers are upset about fuel costs, but some are sticking with Republicans anyway” and the Sept. 29 news story “Democrats make a play for farmers squeezed by Trump’s economy”:

I understand why farmers are struggling with fuel and fertilizer costs. There are, however, many other factors in play now that Republicans cannot ignore. We seem to have forgotten about crops — the very thing that makes farmers farmers. Too many farmers planted fields whose yields used to be sold to USAID and now have no destination. Too many farms have crops that cannot be harvested because there are no pickers. Too many farmers who accepted federal subsidies to install wind and solar fields have been left with tens of thousands of dollars of debt because this administration decided green is bad.

We saw the American farmer left behind during the Reagan years, and yet the impact of those difficult times seems to have faded from Congress’ collective memory. There aren’t many people or families left who are willing to do the back-breaking, all-consuming work that running a farm entails.

I am not a farmer. But it’s easy to admire them when I bite into a juicy peach from Georgia, a crisp apple from Michigan or a ripe strawberry from Florida. I think it’s time for the conservative farmers of America to finally understand that Republicans in Congress do not have their best interests at heart — and to tell them so with their vote.

Catherine Barker
Plymouth, Michigan

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