HAMPTON, Iowa — With almost daily talk of adding tariffs or pausing tariffs, the atmosphere for Iowa farmers is one of uncertainty.

“You know that’s what makes it really hard is when there’s no plan laid out for us,” said April Hemmes, a Franklin County farmer. “He says it’s gonna hurt for a while. OK. Well, you know, what are we gonna do? In the meantime, you know so that’s, that’s what’s really hard and the indecision of tariffs are on tariffs are off.”

Iowa State University Economist Dr. Chad Hart said the immediate impact might be on steel imports from Canada.

“As we look at Canada and we’re seeing a lot of discussion around those steel and aluminum tariffs, which won’t impact agriculture,” said Hart. “They will potentially increase the cost of a lot of machinery that we can purchase because we do tend to bring a lot of steel and aluminum from Canada.”

Those who make a living from farming have been dealing with now five years of drought, which can impact profits.

“This round of tariffs, which we’re just announced today, 15% for corn and 10% for soybeans and that’s what’s important to us Iowa farmers is you know that means a lot to us especially now our inputs are a lot higher than they were in 2017,” said Hemmes. “On corn, we can maybe make a little bit of money, soybeans it’s not looking so good.”

Hart said the timing on the tariffs so far is good for farmers.

“At least right now most of the sales that we would be making from China we have already made,” said Hart. “Had this hit last fall, would’ve had a much bigger impact than right now. If these tariffs continue, they will have a major impact as we look towards harvest.”

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