Farmers Voice Deep Frustration over Disconnect with Washington ahead of Midterms, New Poll Finds

May 20, 2026

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by Tyne Morgan (AgWeb) A new survey of farmers and ranchers highlights growing frustration with Washington and reveals how the widening divide between rural and urban America continues reshaping politics, trust and the ag vote.

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A Farm Journal poll commissioned by Amato Advisors surveyed nearly 1,000 farmers and ranchers across the U.S., with a heavy focus on swing states. The results point to mounting frustration over rising costs, economic uncertainty and what many producers describe as a growing disconnect with Washington.

“I don’t know if I would say surprise. I think they’re concerning, and I think there are some real alarm bells going off across the countryside,” says Mike Amato of Amato Advisors.

Farmers Say Washington Doesn’t Understand Agriculture Today

One of the most striking findings in the survey was the overwhelming number of farmers who believe elected officials do not understand the realities facing agriculture today.

“I think it also stood out to me that, I think in some ways farmers feel a little not heard in Washington, DC, and this is not a political statement. I think, it’s from both parties,” Amato says. “73% of farmers said that their elected officials don’t understand what it’s like to be a farmer or what’s happening on the farm. Uh and that and that to me was a strong signal that um there’s a disconnect between what’s really happening on the land and what’s happening in Washington DC.”

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The poll found nearly three out of four farmers surveyed said elected officials do not understand the realities they face. Only 19% responded that elected officials understood somewhat well, while just under 4% said they felt very well understood.

Global Conflict Adds to Cost Concerns

The survey also examined how geopolitical tensions are affecting producers’ outlooks. When asked how the conflict in Iran could impact their operations, farmers overwhelmingly pointed to concerns over rising fuel and fertilizer costs.

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When asked about the biggest challenges facing their operations today, 78% of respondents identified machinery and input costs as top concerns.

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Tyson Redpath, chairman of the Russell Group, a Washington-area government relations firm, says many of those concerns are tied directly to trade policy and tariffs.

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He adds inflation continues to weigh heavily on both rural and urban voters.

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The survey found mixed sentiment regarding farm finances. Nearly 43% of respondents described their farm’s financial condition over the past 12 months as good. However, when asked to compare their current condition to three years ago, 34% said things were somewhat worse, while only 20% said somewhat better.

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“So if you’re a farmer who is trying to produce a crop, every single line item in your budget is getting more expensive,” she (Callie Eideberg, principal at the Vogel Group) says. “But you’re also seeing the price that you’re getting paid for those crops decrease. And that is not a winning equation.”

Redpath says the survey results also reflect growing divisions within the ag economy itself.

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Despite frustrations over policy and economics, Redpath says the survey showed relatively little appetite among producers to dramatically change voting behavior.

“Only 7%, and I go from the bottom of the polling results up, right? Cause it’s easy to say 60% this or 70% this, but take a look at it’s sort of the bottom piece,” Redpath says. “Only seven percent, seven percent single digits said that they were prepared today to vote for someone else.”

The survey found 61% of respondents said they planned to vote for the same party they supported in the last election, while 17% said they were reconsidering switching parties or voting independent.

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“Usually the midterm election right after the presidential election does not go well for the incumbent presidential party,” Eideberg says. “And in this case, we have what we call a Republican trifecta, where the Republicans hold the White House, the House, and the Senate.”

“So it’s very, very difficult for any incumbent right now, especially an incumbent in the majority, to blame somebody else because all of the policies that farmers, consumers, and all Americans are facing right now are a direct result of policy decisions made by the current leadership in Washington,” she says.

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“E15 has really risen in importance,” Eideberg says. “At least in the DC circles and outside in the heartland too, is being seen as a way to save farmers from bankruptcy at this point.”

She says weakening export markets have increased the urgency around finding additional domestic demand.

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“We are victims of our own success,” Redpath says. “We are the most incredibly productive system of agriculture and farming that the world has ever known. You combine that with the fact that a congressional district now represents over 700,000 people, and it’s just really hard for Ag’s voice to be heard. More importantly, hard for AG’s voice to be understood.”

Agriculture’s Voice in Washington

That growing disconnect mirrors what political scientist Nicholas Jacobs says has become a decades-long erosion of trust, particularly in rural America.

“Trust in government, trust in what government says, the data that it puts out, the data that informs its policies, and since the 1970s it has just plummeted nationwide in this country,” Jacobs says.

“As fast as it’s fallen nationwide, it has hit rock bottom in rural areas,” he says.

For Jacobs, rebuilding that trust may ultimately be one of the country’s greatest political challenges.

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Nicholas Jacobs, a professor at Colby College and co-author of The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America, says the divide between rural and urban voters has been building for decades.

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Jacobs says rural voters often prioritize local concerns differently than urban voters.

“Those issues tend to be very different than the issues that are talked about in national media,” Jacobs says.

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Seismic Shift Unlikely in Midterms READ MORE