Farmers strongly back Trump. A new trade war could test their loyalty American farmers have stood firmly behind President Trump even when his trade policies hurt them. The latest trade war, which could be even worse for their sector, promises to test those ties again. Travis Zook grows corn, raises cattle and owns a seed dealership and farm service business in northeast Indiana. He exemplifies some of the mixed emotions that many farmers have when it comes to President Trump. Like more than 75% of voters in rural, farm-dependent counties, the 44-year-old farmer says he cast his ballot for Trump in November. He stands by that decision. "I still think some of the stuff is maybe the right move for our country," Zook says, "but maybe not the way he's doing it." But Zook also recalls the pain experienced in Trump's 2018 trade war, which hit farmers particularly hard. "The markets definitely went down last time," he acknowledges. In fact, it ended up costing farmers an estimated $27 billion in lost agricultural exports. Although Zook says he appreciates the financial relief that farmers received from Trump in his first term — billions of dollars in subsidies aimed at offsetting those trade-war losses — he isn't entirely comfortable with government handouts to farmers. What's more, now isn't the time for corn growers like himself to get hit again by tariffs. "There's a lot of things stacked against us right now," he says. "You know, bird flu is a scare right now. If we all of a sudden kill billions of chickens, there's a big consumer of corn that's not going to be there." Farmers strongly back Trump. A new trade war could test their loyalty