By ALEXANDRA MIDDLEWOOD
Insight Kansas
In Kansas, we pride ourselves on hard work, strong communities, and self-reliance.
Kansans value hard work, strong communities, and a sense of fairness. But over the past several months, decisions made in Washington have left many of our neighbors behind. While the rhetoric often celebrates rural America, the policies tell a different story. Kansas farmers and rural communities bear the brunt of recent federal funding cuts.
The Trump administration’s policy decisions have undermined the livelihoods and well-being of Kansans across the state by hurting our agricultural economy, straining our rural healthcare systems, and further fraying the safety net that supports our communities.
Start with Kansas agriculture. While national headlines focused on culture wars, the administration quietly slashed funding for the US Agency for International Development (USAID). That may seem like a distant concern, but USAID doesn’t just deliver humanitarian aid, it opens and stabilizes global markets for American-grown crops.
USAID’s Food for Peace program, in particular, has benefited Kansas farmers for decades by buying surplus wheat and grain harvests and sending them overseas as humanitarian aid, helping to stabilize prices here at home while feeding millions abroad.
When the U.S. pulled back from investing in international food security, it also pulled away from the long-term global demand for wheat, corn, soybeans, and other Kansas exports.
In 2024, over half of Kansas-grown wheat was sold abroad, but those markets have now dried up and farmers are struggling to sell their goods. In fact, Kansas exported over $800 million worth of wheat in 2023, and more than $4.75 billion in total agricultural products in 2024, underscoring how vital international markets are to the state’s economy.
At the same time, Trump launched trade wars that sparked retaliatory tariffs from major trading partners like China, which have struck Kansas’ producers hard. According to state and independent estimates, Kansas farmers lost nearly $1 billion in income due to those retaliatory tariffs, especially in soybeans, wheat, and pork.
Despite emergency bailouts, many family farms have seen shrinking profits. For some Kansans, these cuts will mean the end of a multi-generational farming legacy. This isn’t just a market correction; it is the fallout of political choices that ignored the economic ecosystems rural states depend on.
These are not abstract policy changes. They are devastating blows to rural Kansas economies.
It’s important to be clear: these outcomes weren’t inevitable. They were the result of policy decisions that favored cuts over stability and care. Trump campaigned as a champion of the “forgotten man and woman,” appealing to working-class and rural voters in places like Kansas.
But his administration’s actions have abandoned Kansans who need the most help. The same administration that promised to “put America first” has without a doubt put rural America last.
To add insult to injury, most of Kansas’ House delegation has gone along with cutting federal funds every step of the way. Representatives Mann, Schmidt, and Estes all voted in favor, while Representative Davids was the sole opponent from Kansas’ House delegates.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the USAID funding cuts in mid-July. Thus far, Senator Marshall has been an outspoken critic of USAID while Senator Moran has remained mostly silent on the organization itself. However, both Senators, and Moran in particular, have advocated that Food for Peace be moved to the US Department of Agriculture so the program can continue.
The long-term effects of these policies are still unfolding, but one thing is certain: cutting development aid at the expense of farmers is not building a stronger Kansas. It’s time we choose leaders who will invest in our people, protect our communities, and put Kansas first for real.
Kansas deserves elected officials who understand the realities of life in small towns and farming communities; leaders who don’t just use rural voters as a backdrop for campaign speeches, but who fight for policies that support hardworking Kansans.
Kansans know what it means to take care of each other. Our policies should reflect that.
Alexandra Middlewood, PhD, is an associate professor and chair of the Political Science Department at Wichita State University.