Donald Trump delivered a mixed bag for farmers and ranchers during his first term as president.

Nonetheless, he served their interests better than President Biden and so was a better choice than Vice President Kamala Harris.

As president, Trump worked to blunt the administrative state, and has promised to continue that effort.

During his first term, Trump’s most notable achievement in this regard was his reversal of the Obama administration’s “Waters of the U.S.” rule.

He streamlined regulations governing the National Environmental Policy Act, which would have made permitting some projects easier. The Biden administration overturned those regulations.

He also put an end to “sue and settle” arrangements, a popular legal strategy employed by the Obama administration under which environmental plaintiffs were encouraged to file suit with assurances there would be an advantageous settlement.

Trump has also promised not to allow a handful of states to dictate policies nationwide, citing Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution which gives Congress sole authority to regulate commerce “among the several states.”

He was referring to California’s Prop 12, which bans the sale of eggs and pork and veal products in California unless production facilities meet animal-confinement standards dictated by the state.

Unfortunately, despite a conservative majority the Supreme Court ruled that petitioners failed to demonstrate Prop 12 was a substantial burden on interstate commerce, as alleged in a complaint by National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation.

Farmers and ranchers mostly benefitted from the 2017 tax reforms. Trump has vowed to make those reforms permanent. At this writing, it is unclear whether the Republicans will keep control of the House of Representatives, where all tax measures must originate. Should the GOP’s majority hold, its control of the Senate would facilitate favorable tax policies.

As president, Trump took steps to move several agency headquarters out of Washington, and out into the country.

We supported Trump’s efforts to move the Bureau of Land Management’s headquarters to Colorado. We still believe an agency that controls 247 million acres, including 155 million acres of grazing land in the West, should be located in the West.

His on-again, off-again trade war with China had a huge impact on farmers. His imposition of punitive tariffs on Mexico and Canada even as he was announcing a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement led to retaliatory duties on farm products.

But a new tri-lateral North American trade deal was adopted, and bilateral agreements with Japan and South Korea were negotiated. Trump was also eventually able to negotiate a multi-phase trade deal with China.

U.S. agricultural exports to China significantly rebounded following a new trade agreement, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service.

Adjusted for inflation, U.S. farm exports were higher in 2020, Trump’s last year in office, than in 2023, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Support for Trump in rural areas is not unanimous or homogenous. Nonetheless, farmers and ranchers will be better served than they have been with the current administration.