Farmers appeal to Trump with cable TV commercials

It's well known that US President Donald Trump likes to watch the "Fox and Friends"' cable-TV news program each day, so a lobbyist organization for farmers is trying to reach Trump by targeting the show with its message: protect free trade.

Farmers from Montana and Indiana make personal appeals to Trump in ads that started running late last month and through part of this month on cable news, online and in agricultural communities across the country.

Farmers for Free Trade is paying $500,000 for the ads that have been running on Fox, MSNBC and CNN in markets surrounding Washington as well as Trump's weekend retreat Mar-a-lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

The ads feature Brent Bible, an Indiana soy and corn farmer and former state trooper, and Montana grain and oilseed farmer Michelle Erickson-Jones and her family.

Bible says in a 30-second spot: "Today, we farm about 5,000 acres and raise primarily corn and soybeans. I'm supportive of the Trump administration, but I have a lot of concerns about current actions that have been taken on trade and tariffs. The fact that China is our number one soybean customer makes us very vulnerable. Our farm and many others like ours will be one of the first casualties of a trade war."

Last month, a similar ad featured Erickson-Jones and her family in which she explains the importance of export markets to her farm and the dangers of trade policies that restrict exports:

"We depend on free trade policies to maintain our export markets. The crops that we grow here on this farm are exported across the globe. Policies that restrict trade would be devastating for farms like ours. Someday I'd like to pass the farm down to my boys. Mr. President, protect free trade and keep our agriculture economy strong."

Farmers for Free Trade was formed last year by several agriculture industry groups in response to Trump's potential withdrawal from NAFTA and other administration trade policies.

The advocacy group is led by Max Baucus, a former US ambassador to China during President Barack Obama's administration who served as a US senator from Montana, and Richard Lugar, also an ex-US senator, from Indiana.

The organization has also put a "Voice of the Farmer"' tool on its website for farmers to film short messages of support for agricultural trade that can be shared with lawmakers.

As for farmers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration is considering putting together a relief package for farmers that could be in the billions of dollars if Chinese tariffs on US agriculture products are implemented.

The newspaper said agriculture and congressional officials are examining Depression-era programs like the Commodity Credit Corp (CCC), which was created in 1933 to stabilize farm incomes and which permits borrowing of as much as $30 billion from the Treasury to finance its activities. Using the existing CCC program would avoid having to go to Congress for new funding.

According to the Journal, last month Congress lifted years of restrictions that stood in the way of the Agriculture Department from supporting farm prices or buying surplus products. The change was part of the $1.3 trillion spending bill.

Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican from Iowa, told the newspaper that the Trump administration could rely on the CCC and related authorities to shield farmers from the effects of any tariffs imposed by China.

On Monday, Trump acknowledged that US farmers may be hurt by Chinese tariffs but said they will ultimately "understand" why the confrontation is necessary.

"These are great patriots. They understand that they're doing this for the country," Trump said. "And we'll make it up to them. And in the end, they're going to be much stronger than they are right now."