The tornado and the trade wars with China and Mexico that hit the US corn belt recently hit US farmers with a very strong doublet.

Not only do American farmers have to confront the terrible and turbulent weather and deal with its consequences, they also find themselves in a “political storm”. Thanks to the ongoing trade dispute between the Trump administration and Beijing, soybean exports to China have almost ceased.

Now Donald Trump has begun to threaten that he will intensify his trade war with Mexico, which is the main buyer of corn in Indiana. Trump threatened to introduce a 5% fee on Mexican imports starting June 10, and said that duties could rise to 25% if Mexico did not stop the flow of illegal migrants. Mexican officials in Washington are trying to abolish tariffs, but so far there is little use.

According to Bob Nielsen, a professor of agronomy at Purdue University, because of all this uncertainty, farmers face a potentially catastrophic planting season. “This is the slowest planting season I've seen in 37 years.

By this time, farmers usually plant 90% of their crops, but now the state average is about 31%, ”said Bob Nielsen.

“With more favorable weather and late harvest, farmers could still recover from this late start, but if Trump introduces corn tariffs, it will have a very big impact,” the professor predicted. “We just feel like we got caught in the crossfire,” Indiana farmers say.