On a gray, chilly fall day in Madison County, plenty of farmers from all over the state braved the weather to shop for equipment, discuss new technology and chow down on some good old-fashioned fair food at the Ohio State University Farm Science Review.
In one tent, Barry Ward, an expert with OSU's farm office, gave a talk about the rising costs of farming.
"The headline news is fertilizer and fuel, right?" Ward said.
Ward outlined an almost optimistic look at 2026: Soybean, corn, and wheat prices are now higher than they were in the spring.
But better-than-expected profits from sales will be offset by rising expenses.
Diesel fuel prices have been climbing since February, when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, and hit a record high this month. Chemical fertilizer that comes from the Middle East has faced supply chain disruptions, leading to higher prices.
Meanwhile, the cost of many other products needed for farming has gone up because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
"Even if things were to get solved tomorrow, we're going to have some kind of a tail to this or a lag, where we're gonna see these prices probably continue on out into the future," Ward said.
"There's not a lot of folks that are as completely dependent on the nation's foreign policy as farmers are."- Chris Yackee, Fulton County farmer
Costs at top of mind for rural voters
Those high costs are on a lot of farmers’ minds as the November mid-term elections draw near. Ohio has several major contested races, including the race between Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and Democratic former senator Sherrod Brown, and the race for governor.
Rural counties and many of the farmers who call those places home tend to vote more conservative. About 63% of rural American voters supported Trump in 2024.
Ray Mencl, of Lorain County, cast his vote for Trump in the last presidential election.
Mencl owns part of a farm that grows corn and soybeans. While he’s frustrated by rising prices, especially for fuel, he doesn’t blame Trump. He thinks foreign companies are driving up prices for Americans.
The state of the economy hasn't changed his mind about voting conservative in the future.
"I don't like certain things about the Republican Party, and I don't like — the Democratic Party is definitely out. They're nuts," Mencyl laughs. "I mean, they’re crazy."
"Like most farmers, I'm pretty conservative and I don't see much that I like on the other side."- Ben Kasler, Athens County farmer
Trump and Trump candidates
A national Associated Press–KFF poll released last week found rural voters are "deeply unhappy" about the economy. However, while Trump’s standing among those voters has slipped a little, he still has a 48% approval rating — noticeably higher than Trump’s 33% approval rating among all U.S. adults.
Trump isn’t up for election in November, but he's given his blessing to candidates like Husted and Republican candidate for Ohio governor Vivek Ramaswamy.
Ben Kasler, a fifth-generation farmer from Athens county, suggested that he would support Ramaswamy. As a landowner, the main issue on Kasler's mind right now is skyrocketing property taxes.
"It’s hard enough to make a living farming. It's just almost impossible in our end of the state. But then to add the property tax burden, it just doesn't seem right," Kasler said. "I mean, not to endorse anybody, but that's something that Vivek has actually talked about doing is abolishing (property taxes).”
Ramaswamy has promised to at least roll back property tax levels to where they were before COVID. His campaign website specifically said that that would provide relief for farmers and rural communities.
Democratic candidate Amy Acton also has a tax relief plan that involves a property tax rebate for struggling Ohio homeowners, among other things.
That's a fact that's not likely to sway Kasler, though.
"Like most farmers, I'm pretty conservative and I don't see much that I like on the other side," Kasler said.
"I don't think anything's gonna change if all of a sudden there are more blue names than red names."- Chris Yackee, Fulton County farmer
Broader views
For some Ohio farmers, the problems of the nation's agriculture industry feel removed from the politics of the day.
"I've been farming for 40 plus years. We have the same conversations, regardless of who's in the White House and who's in the Congress. It doesn't matter," said Alan Davis of Auglaize County.
Chris Yackee, a row crop famer from Fulton County, wasn't optimistic that the November election will make a difference.
"I don't think anything's gonna change if all of a sudden there are more blue names than red names, because it's still gonna be gridlocked. You can't pass anything in this country without a veto-proof majority in the Senate," Yackee said.
He said that it would be nice, though, for national politics to be "a little more predictable" than it's been in the past two years.
"There's not a lot of folks that are as completely dependent on the nation's foreign policy as farmers are," Yackee said.
Yackee said he believes that the president has a misunderstanding of how trade works. He also believes that many of the nation's economic woes began years before Donald Trump was elected.
Like other farmers who spoke with WOSU, Yackee said he isn't likely to change the way he votes going forward. Though, he may be an outlier among his farming peers when it comes to who he voted for.
"Dad, close your ears. Yeah I mean I – I didn't vote for this guy," Yackee said, referring to Trump.
Whether farmers in Republican-leaning counties are frustrated enough to stay away from the polls remains to be seen.
Early voting begins on Oct. 6.
