Tariffs add to pressure on North Carolina family farmers

North Carolina farmers begin each growing season without knowing whether their crops will bring in enough money to cover production costs. As fuel, fertilizer, and labor become more expensive, that gamble is growing riskier for the family farms that sustain the state’s rural communities.  

Stuart Beam, who has been a farmer for 20 years, operates Beam Farms Forage and Livestock in Rutherfordton. He began by raising cattle and later expanded into dairy farming. The work can stretch to 80 hours a week, with no guarantee of a financial return. Still, Beam sees another kind of reward in what he does.

“It’s not a financial reward,” Beam said. “It’s a reward of emotion, of gratitude, of gratefulness, just knowing that what I do every day provides for somebody else. And I think most farmers share that commonality.”  

The work extends beyond the farm, supporting other businesses and public services. Beam described agriculture as the foundation on which both rural and urban communities were built across the country. 

“Before there was everything else, there was agriculture,” Beam said. “The demands from an industry being there, and the revenue from that industry, built our communities and our cities.” 

But maintaining that role is becoming more difficult as costs rise, crop prices remain unpredictable, larger operations take over the industry, and farmland is sold for development. 

“The No. 1 issue is going to be our rising cost of production, or as people say, the rising input cost,” Beam explained. “That’s definitely the biggest issue that I struggle with right now. More often than not, we spend thousands of dollars to grow and harvest a crop without knowing the price that we’re going to get paid for that when we harvest it. Who else in the world is going to do that?” 

He said the pressures of rising costs are appearing in nearly every part of the operation. 

“This year my farm saw a twofold increase in fertilizer and fuel prices in a matter of 60 days,” he said.

With production costs rising faster than the income that some crops generate, Beam said some farmers have to resort to borrowing money to cover their expenses from the previous season before beginning the next. 

President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have added to that uncertainty. Tariffs on imported goods can raise the cost of farm equipment, replacement parts, and agriculture chemicals. Countries that trade with the United States may place retaliatory tariffs on American farm products, making them more expensive for overseas buyers and reducing demand.

In 2025, Trump increased tariffs on Chinese imports and imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum. China responded with retaliatory tariffs on American goods such as chicken, wheat, beef, and soybeans. The two countries later reached an agreement according to which the United States reduced some tariffs on Chinese goods and China removed some tariffs on U.S. farm products. 

Trump also imposed tariffs on products from Canada, North Carolina’s largest export market. Canada responded by placing 25% tariffs on billions of dollars in American goods, including steel, poultry, dairy, fruit and some vegetable products. Canada later removed many of the counter tariffs but retained tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles. On July 20, Trump announced a new 50% tariff on dairy products. 

A May analysis by North Dakota State University estimated that China’s retaliatory tariffs reduced the U.S. agricultural exports to the country by approximately 14.9 billion from March 2025 through February 2026. Researchers cautioned that those numbers don’t represent farmers’ total losses that take into account supply and demand, seasonality, other tariffs and changes in agricultural prices.  

Beam said farmers need a change, starting with stronger local markets for their crops and improved access to the imported products needed to operate a farm. 

“We need domestic use of our commodity products, so our corn, our soy, our wheat, especially our cotton. … We need to not have to be reliant on exporting a huge percentage of our crops. We also desperately need domestic production of our inputs, and this covers all the bases. When I say inputs, I mean our fuel that we put in our trucks and tractors, our wire that we build fences with, out herbicides that we use for crop protection, our fertilizers that we use to grow a crop, our tires that go on our tractors, our animal medicine — I mean, pretty much put a finger on it, most of it’s outsourced,” Beam said.

“And when a trade war happens, or when tariffs happen, farmers get caught in the middle. And I mean, every industry does get caught in the middle in those situations, but it’s so critical to farmers, because we can’t wait. That tomato is not going to stay on that vine five more days to be picked,” he added.

Trade uncertainty is not the only challenge limiting farmers’ control over their businesses. 

Beam said consolidation within agriculture is also leaving fewer companies in control of how food is processed and sold. For instance, the Department of Agriculture found that in 2018-2020, just two seed companies accounted for 72% of planted corn acres and 66% of planted soybeans in the country. 

“Prices, to start off with, will be volatile as we see consolidation happen that puts more power in less hands, so when you have a beef industry right now that’s already consolidated to the point where four companies operate 85% of the country’s beef on the beef production side — we’ll see that start to happen in poultry and in pork and in produce and in vegetables, and that’s not a good thing at all, and if something doesn’t happen, we will see imports of these products increase also,” Beam said. 

Another challenge is the continued loss of the land on which farmers depend. Beam said rising property values make selling land more attractive to landowners. Many farmers lease the land they use, and Beam said it’s not feasible for them to buy every acre. 

“Rural communities will just be absolutely devastated if the loss of farmland and the farm economy is not reversed, and I don’t mean reversed for a year. We’ve seen that. We see that once or twice a decade. These rural communities thrive because of agriculture,” Beam said.

Beam said strengthening the farm economy will require long-term comprehensive trade agreements that are not changed from one administration to the next, incentives to help farm-related industries operate in the U.S., and local support. 

“The issue that we’re facing in rural America with mental health, especially on farms, is a serious issue, and the general public can help us with that by just thanking a farmer, asking a farmer a question, you know. We’re not always the most approachable, but we love to be asked questions, we love to share our story,” Beam said. “Most of us love to share our farms, so sending some positive vibes towards farmers, asking us questions, and showing us that they care where their food comes from is very important.” 

Beam also encouraged consumers to speak out about the role agriculture plays in their communities.

“The No. 1 thing that I would ask a consumer to do would be to send an email to their congressman, their senator, expressing the importance of agriculture here in their communities, in their state, in the country,” he said.