Des Moines, Iowa — American Farm Bureau president Zippy Duvall is warning there may be collateral damage in rural America if President-elect Trump follows through on mass deportations and increases tariffs. Duvall is in Des Moines for the Iowa Farm Bureau’s annual meeting.
The first Trump Administration paid American farmers 28 BILLION dollars in so-called trade disruption payments to compensate for China’s retaliation to Trump’s tariffs. Duvall says expanding ag exports would help farmers get past the financial strain of inflation. Duvall, who spoke to reporters in Des Moines for nearly half an hour, says the Farm Bureau is very interested in learning the details of Trump’s plan to deport people who entered the country illegally.
A recent US Labor Department survey found about 44 percent of American farm workers are undocumented immigrants. Duvall says no one wants criminals from other countries here, harming US citizens, but he says the Farm Bureau will argue against deporting migrants who are critical to the ag economy.
Duvall says there may be an opportunity to reduce regulations on farmers once Trump takes office and the Farm Bureau is lobbying for the total elimination of the federal inheritance tax. Duvall says he’s extremely disappointed a new Farm Bill has stalled, again, in Congress.
Duvall is a farmer from northern Georgia. On Monday, he drove through areas of his state that were hit by Hurricane Helene in late September.
Duvall says just about every part of the country has seen some form of natural disaster this year and Congress needs to provide disaster assistance to farmers ASAP. Duvall has been the American Farm Bureau’s president since 2016. He’s the keynote speaker at this week’s Iowa Farm Bureau convention.
