The agriculture and family farm industry have already taken a huge hit from Trump's trade war with the rest of the entire world and they're about to take another.
But this hit isn't going to come from the trade war. This can be attributed directly to good ol' Republican incompetence.
Farmers across the country will be completely unable to sell directly to food stamp recipients at local markets this summer because the equipment they used for it in the past is gone.
Last fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled its contract with the Farmers Market Coalition, the organization that provides farmers with the hardware and software to accept SNAP payments. Partly as a result, one of the main companies offering this technology, Novo Dia, is canceling its service and going out of business. While this outcome has been clear for months, the USDA’s new contractor has not installed a replacement technology that would allow farmers to keep accepting SNAP payments.
“There is no backup option,” said Ben Feldman, policy director for the Farmers Market Coalition. “July and August are the busiest times of the year. Farmers were promised that they would have functioning equipment and they don’t, and right now there’s no program to help them get it.”
You might call this ironic given that Republicans spend so much time and energy lecturing food stamp recipients about their diet choices.
They will literally be unable to use their benefits to buy fruits and vegetables at their local farmer's market.