(Bloomberg Opinion) — Is the relationship between President Donald Trump and farm country starting to go bad?
At first glance, things have never been better. According to recent data, net farm income will hit $103 billion this year, a whopping 23% increase over 2019. The problem is that most of that bounty isn’t due to anything produced down on the farm. Instead, more than one-third of it came from direct federal aid, a 65% boost over last year. Without those funds, farm income would be at its lowest since 2014.
This hasn’t been lost on the president. Late last year, he tweeted: “Our great Farmers will recieve another major round of `cash,’ compliments of China Tariffs, prior to Thanksgiving.” (Spelling and punctuation his.)
But even as some farmers benefit from the president’s largesse, most don’t. And with much of the assistance set to expire, and minimal effort on…