What does that mean for the farm, especially during harvest time?

Well, in this harvest, I was filling up my combine, which cost about $1,000 to fill up.

It holds 140 gallons of diesel fuel and roughly seven bucks a gallon.

And farmers have to have somewhere to get the additional money from.

So I found myself... letting some other bills go right now.

And I made the choice to get my crop harvested, you know, out of the field, you know, while I can.

And those were very difficult decisions for farmers.

What do you want them to know about the situation that you and other Black farmers are in right now, the people who feed them every day?

What assurances are you looking for to ensure this money reaches farmers who need it most?

Well, Will, thank you so much for having me.

You know, I think this is a minute too late and a dime too short by the Trump administration.

I believe it's an announcement to really look at votes, you know, getting votes in the midterm election.

And we have to look at what got us here, the president's tariffs.

The war in Iran is really what is at the center of this thing.

We didn't have $6 and $7 diesel fuel until we went to war with Iran.

Are they facing particular challenges right now? And are you concerned about whether they will get the needed relief from this newly announced bailout plan?

What assurances are you looking for to ensure this money reaches farmers who need it most?

Well, Will, thank you so much for having me.

You know, I think this is a minute too late and a dime too short by the Trump administration.

I believe it's an announcement to really look at votes, you know, getting votes in the midterm election.

And we have to look at what got us here, the president's tariffs, the war in Iran.

Iran is really what is at the center of this thing.

We didn't have $6 and $7 diesel fuel until we went to war with Iran and the administration that made numerous promises to help America's farmers.

Are they facing particular challenges right now? And are you concerned about whether they will get the needed relief from this newly announced bailout plan?

How are things for you, for farmers and ranchers right now?

Well, this is a national farm crisis in this country.

And for me, it's been an uphill battle here.

You know, so one of the things that you've done, that's a job of interest.

But the first thing that I really heard is what's the president's tariffs.

So we never recuperated from the tariffs.

Then we went into his tariffs.

think you can hold on?

Farmer John, I'm gonna start by asking you, how the hell are you surviving?

Well, you know it's rough, and thank you so much for having me.

I'm paying $7 a gallon for diesel fuel, and I'm out here picking corn at $5 a bushel is what it's going for.

And it cost me roughly $1,000 of my 140-gallon tank on my 9,600 John Deere combine.

That's a lot of money that wasn't expected to be paying right here at harvest.

And we have members calling from all over the country.

One farmer wanted $5,000, said the government had leaned on his crop and he wanted $5,000 to continue harvesting.

They

How do you operate a farm when your cost for diesel doubles?

You know, Kay, this is a national emergency and crisis, and it's really a national disgrace for the president and what position he's put these farmers in with these fuel prices.

A barrel of oil is at $102 a barrel.

And here you have the president who makes a statement about supporting Russia, asking Zelensky to stop bombing Russia, like that has anything to do to help America's farmers here at home.

$10 a gallon, I'm hearing from California members out in California.

I'm paying $7.

a gallon for diesel fuel.

So what does that mean for prices for everything else? If I go to the grocery store and I see corn costs more or strawberries cost more, anything, how much more do you need to raise your prices to keep the farm going?

Yes

... and Argenti- people are, are, are hurting." Well, well, hell, what about, you know, America's farmers? Uh, what about Black farmers? You know, we have nearly almost 400 farmers, uh, uh, facing foreclosure.

How, how about helping some farmers right here at home? And, and, uh, the, for some reason he gets away with these statements.

He says America First, and he opens up, uh, Joy, with, with that sneaky line, "Oh, you know, I lo- I love farmers." This president don't, don't love farmers.

We're losing 77, uh, uh, uh, beef cattlemen farmers every day in the United States.

Every day.

And this president had the audacity to say he wants to help Argentina farmers, uh, you know, by, by, by s- uh, you know, buying 300,000, uh, uh, metric tons for them.

... developers?

From your perspective as a cattle farmer, how serious is the current shortage, and what are you seeing on the ground that consumers may not realize?

Well, this is a very serious time for, uh, America's cattlemen, like myself.

Uh, this is the lowest head count since 1951 in the United States.

So we're at an all-time low for beef production.

And this administration has known that for quite some time, and they haven't done anything really to address the problem.

Uh, this administration, uh, the President called for 300,000 metric tons of, uh, beef to be imported at 25% below, uh, uh, the market value.

So that's gonna put a lot of American farmers out of, uh, business really c- because we have the same, uh, high input costs that this administration put into effect, uh, with its tariffs and- and the war in Iran.

Uh, when we're looking at the US cattle herd, that it is at its lowest level in roughly 75 years, you know, what do you think the answer is?

Yes

... 30,000 metric that was recalled, uh, in, in, in Florida and, and, and Texas.

This is a bad deal for America's farmers.

So here we have high input costs.

Uh, all of these things are, are facing us, and now we have the president who's saying, "Sell your beef at, at 25% lower than, than, than what we've been, than what we've been doing," and this is some sort of great deal.

It's really a deal, Don, for the meat packers.

Those are the guys that's gonna make some money.

It's just the most insane thing I've ever heard of, and that's why even Republican cattlemen are fired up about it.

How do you balance those two things effectively?

Well, first of all, I believe that this is a raw deal by the president.

You know, here's the president who keeps making the announcement that he loves farmers, he loves cattlemen, and then undermines us with that 300,000 metric tons or foreign beef that we don't even know where it's coming from.

There was just a recall from Argentina beef for, I believe it was 30,000 metric tons from Florida and Texas.

So this bad beef that's coming into the United States, the president hasn't told anybody where the beef is coming from.

There's no guarantee that the American people are going to going to see any savings in the local grocery stores.

This is more about helping meatpackers, in my opinion.

Let's talk specifically about cattle farmers.

John Boyne, Jr., when Stephen Moore says this, what is your reaction? Do you feel that we are in a productivity boom? Do you feel that the fundamentals of the economy are good? What's your take on this?

Well, America's farmers are certainly hurting.

And a lot of the terrorists and the Iran war, isn't helping America's farmers.

We have the high cost of our diesel fuel.

We have a 35% increase on fertilizer, which equates to about $200 a metric ton.

And it hasn't been any real relief for America's farmers.

And this week we lost two generational farmers to gun violence and farm suicide.

So I do believe we should have policies that will really help our farmers in tough times because they're feeling the effect of the higher energy prices and the higher fertilizer prices as a result of the Iran situation.

What happened to America first? John, what is happening with farmers right now?

I'll tell you, Don, thank you for having me, and, and hello to my good friend Will.

This is a bad time in, in, in America for, for farmers.

You know, we have, Don, in the NBFA, uh, National Black Farmers Association, 200, over 200 pending farm foreclosures.

Um, uh, the USDA has issued, uh, loan acceleration letters to these farmers and have denied them loan servicing, this administration.

And they've also went after, uh, farmers for, uh, tax liens, all of this stuff.

So here you have this amend- this president who continues to say he loves farmers.

So those numbers aren't even reflected in these massive bankruptcy numbers that we see.

Thank you

...I was trying to attend a meeting.

So, uh, the farmer circle in this country is a very small circle, and, uh, I was told that there was gonna be a meeting, uh, at the White House, and, and I, of course, I, I'm very aggressive.

I started sending me- uh, emails to, uh, the White House, and, and, and during a, a call there, the, the administration said that they were moving away from DEI, and the small farmer issue, and the Black farmer issue, and that they may revisit it in a couple of years, is what, is, is what the White House says.

And I explained to, uh, uh, the staff there, there is no DEI on my farm.

Uh, the meeting was, uh, December 8th at the White House, and, uh, why the story picked up traction today, I don't know, but I've been on MSNBC, uh, talking about my, uh, the experience of me trying to attend that meeting.

I've been on CNN, uh, making the same comments.

Okay, John Boyd, go ahead, please.

What does this do? What does this mean? What do you, when you see this, what do you think?

Well, Don, this is a slap in the face to America's Black farmers right now.

Here you have the president of the United States flying in white farmers from South Africa by charter, by chartered plane.

Now, who, now who's paying for that, Don? This administration always talks about, uh, conserving dollars and all these things.

Bringing in white farmers to the United States, giving them a path to citizenship.

And they're making, uh, people of color in this country, immigrants, leave here by, by the boat load, Don, and you're bringing white farmers in.

This administration has said time and time again they don't want nothing to do with DEI or anything by race.

Talk to me about that, and what do you suspect is behind this? And, and where's, where do, who do you think he's getting this information from? Because clearly, it's information wrong.

You mean the first in line to be affected negatively by these tariffs?

First in line to be affected negatively.

And the very first people, the very first people that the president took aim at was his base in all of these red states.

I want to be clear.

These are people that had pasteboard signs out here in southern part of Virginia with Trump.

These farmers held rallies and meetings on their farms, and he went after them quickly and used them as a ploy, a bargaining ploy with these other countries, not even taking into effect of what he would be causing them and their farming operation.

Don, if you don't get farm operating loans and you have poor price commodities on corn, wheat and soybeans, you wind up in foreclosure or on an auction block.

Musk has said that as well.