The ranchers who question support for Trump in Nebraska, the president's great bastion

The ranchers who question Trump's support in Nebraska, a great bastion of the president - Author, Sheila Flynn - Author Title, Senior Reporter for the United States, Nebraska - Publication Date - Reading Time: 9 min 2026 was already a year long enough to be difficult for the livestock in Nebraska, Yvette Mannon. In April, a wildfire destroyed more than 600 hectares of pastures and 21 kilometers of fence on the ranch she bought in 2002 in a corner of Nebraska full of rolling green hills under the vast skies of the Midwest, a landscape dotted with grain silos and feedlots next to extensive cattle fields. Mannon's 300 head of cattle survived the fire, but the fence had to be replaced and the herd continued to be fed. With steel prices at their highest in years, heavily affected by the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, this meant spending $16 per meter, for a total that exceeded $300,000. Furthermore, due to the large amount of good pasture destroyed, Mannon also needed a tractor to go out every day to deliver hay to her cattle, at a time when diesel prices, soaring due to the war with Iran, had risen more than 40% compared to the previous year. In August, the Trump administration announced the import of 300,000 metric tons of free foreign beef, with the aim of reducing consumer prices. The news was released just before the period between September and November, when most American calves are weaned and sold. The cattle market immediately plummeted. "I lived it as a betrayal" "I felt as if I had been betrayed," she said. Many farmers and ranchers across the United States claim to be suffering the consequences of multiple problems. The last few years have been difficult, with droughts that have affected crops and herds of cattle that were already at historic lows. But, according to them, government policies have made the situation even worse. This has led some residents of Nebraska, a state that overwhelmingly supported President Trump in the last elections, to reconsider their political loyalties. Dan Osborn, an independent candidate facing Republican Pete Ricketts, backed by Trump, is showing surprisingly good results in polls ahead of the November Senate elections. Republicans seem very aware of the discontent and frustration among farmers. Both Trump and Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen have announced in recent weeks aid measures aimed at reducing fuel costs for farmers and ranchers, who claim they have been in difficulty for months. The Iran war has driven up the prices of diesel and fertilizers, both basic products for agriculture. Tariffs have affected the costs of machinery and its repairs, as well as the prices of steel and wood. And the decisions of the Trump administration, whether it is the import of foreign meat or the opening of the southern border to Mexican cattle, have led to already volatile markets at a dizzying pace. Many producers are losing hundreds of dollars for each head of cattle. From boom to crisis "All this negatively affected the cattle markets as a whole," said James Mitchell, adjunct professor and expert in agricultural economics at the University of Arkansas. According to him, the cattle markets operate in 10 to 12-year cycles, with good and bad times. The sector recently enjoyed a particularly lucrative period, where low supply and high demand drove prices up. However, now the market is clearly in decline. Jake Wolfinger, 45, has been weathering the crisis in his feedlot near Lexington, Nebraska. He and his wife are from Ohio and come from farming families with several generations of tradition. They moved to Nebraska, a state with fertile land and the largest underground water reserves in the country, to start their own business. The Wolfingers bought a dilapidated feedlot in 2010 and transformed it into a modern operation with 5,500 head of cattle. Their neighbors use them as an example of what can be achieved with hard work in such a difficult sector. But Wolfinger did not foresee the war with Iran, the tariffs, or the imports of foreign beef in his planning. "Things were going quite well," he said, referring to the sale of cattle at $240 per quintal, but the price has dropped to $225. It may not seem much, but it represents a potential loss of hundreds of dollars per head. Wolfinger also faces exorbitant diesel costs, as some equipment consume 400 gallons of fuel per day. "It really makes you reflect," he said. Wolfinger, a Trump supporter, stated that he voted for the president because "we needed his spirit in this country." He also expressed his frustration with the left's diversity and inclusion policies. But he is not happy with the way the president has intervened in the beef market. "People should stay out of the farmers' affairs, because it is harvest time," Wolfinger said. Borrowing from the banks 64 kilometers northwest, near Callaway, Nebraska, Duane Kimball, 54, is in his shed surrounded by machinery and a huge Trump banner on one of the walls. "I know that many people have had to go to their banks and increase their lines of credit," he says. Kimball believed that the war with Iran would have ended long ago. But he does not blame Trump for all his economic problems. "I don't think it's fair to attribute all the responsibility to this administration," he stated. He pointed to the burdensome regulations, as well as the growing cost of machinery and fertilizers, trends that began before Trump returned to the White House. Mannon, who returned to her native Nebraska and bought the ranch after a career in banking, believes that the agricultural industry will show its opinion in the midterm elections. But, like many here, she prefers not to get too involved in political debates. "Uncertainty" That is not a problem for her friend and neighbor, rancher Jim Jenkins. An independent Senate candidate, Jenkins is extremely proud of Nebraska's agriculture and his own ranch, located on land his family colonized more than 150 years ago. Jenkins was so outraged by the policies that, in his opinion, harm Nebraska's agricultural industry, that he wrote an opinion piece during the summer in an Omaha newspaper. He has also personally felt the consequences. He cites the high prices of diesel, fertilizers, wood, and steel, from barbed wire to fence posts. According to him, this has been aggravated by the "uncertainty" about what may happen next and what Trump's next announcement could imply for the sector. "Those are the things that keep you awake," this 69-year-old man told the BBC. A vocal critic of Trump, he did not vote for the president in any of his presidential campaigns and knows that he is an exception among his conservative neighbors. When Trump was first elected, Jenkins said he hoped he would be "a practical businessman." Now he says he believes "he has been everything but practical." But for many farmers and ranchers who support Trump, the president's decisions, even when they affect them economically, deserve the benefit of the doubt. "We all knew this about Trump. He was a bit impulsive, the 'shoot and then aim' type," Wolfinger said. "I wish I could have put the gun away, put it in a holster, and then think it through." But he added that "in general, he is trying to steer this country in the right direction." "The best president" Don Cantrell, whose grandfather started cultivating some family land that now extends over almost 5,000 hectares, said that they still charge him taxes for diesel and admits that the president "does some stupid things" and "says some stupid things." But Cantrell believes that Trump has been the "best president overall." For example, the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, was precisely what, in his opinion, the country needed. "Let's cut government waste," he said. "There is a lot of waste." Trump also holds positions on social issues, such as abortion and praise for Christianity, which coincide with the personal convictions of many Nebraska voters. "I think that, in general, if you are conservative in this country, you will vote for the conservatives," Wolfinger said. Don Batie, 67, agrees: "There are many other problems besides agriculture." However, the economic reality is difficult to ignore, he stated. Batie retired from agriculture last year due to a combination of personal and economic reasons. This corn and soybean farmer saw corn prices fall by 38.7% between 2022 and 2025. But the costs have not decreased, he said, as tariffs and inflation affect his profits. As a result of this, he had to abandon his lifelong dream of leaving the 160-hectare farm he owns to his daughter. "It just wasn't going to work anymore," he said, sitting at the dining table of the house where he grew up. He reached that conclusion last year, after analyzing the figures. "I knew things weren't going well," he said. "But when I started doing the numbers... I thought: 'This is going to be bad'." Batie voted for Trump in 2016, but not in 2024, because he was disappointed with his policies. He said he heard a similar discontent across the state. "They are still convinced Republicans," he said referring to those people. "But they no longer support Trump." However, throughout Nebraska, the industry moves forward. On a rainy Thursday in Broken Bow, buyers dressed in cowboy hats, plaid shirts, and cowboy clothes gathered for the cattle auction that is usually held in an enclosed area. There is still need to buy and sell calves, and the cattle operations, many of them multi-generational, are not stopped by political issues. Across the train tracks, passing stores of feed and hardware, Yvette Mannon summarized the resilience and strength of the people of Nebraska. "The people who are in agriculture are eternally optimistic," she said. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be in this." This article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. A BBC journalist reviewed the text before its publication. More information on how we use AI. - Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and receive news, documentaries, and analysis alerts, all in one place. 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