During the 2024 presidential election, few farmers were more vocally supportive of President Donald Trump than former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for food and agriculture Kip Tom. The seventh-generation Indiana farmer and longtime Tom Farms CEO led a coalition called Farmers & Ranchers for Trump 47.
Today, Tom serves as the vice chair of rural policy for the America First Policy Institute. That Washington think tank works to advance policies that align with Trump’s “America first” policy agenda.
Unsurprisingly, Tom remains bullish on the president’s agriculture agenda. Still, even he admits there is much more work to be done.
“I think it's time we stop talking about the past and let's talk about where we're at today and where the future is,” he said in a recent interview with Farm Progress.
As for where the country is, Tom praised the president for some accomplishments, notably the 2025 budget reconciliation package (also known as the “big, beautiful bill”) that brought more money for farmer support. He’s also encouraged by the administration’s increased focus on trade and addressing regulatory challenges.
He notes there is still much work to be done, including finalizing many of the trade deals the administration has tentatively agreed to. Tom also remains “uneasy” about the resilience of the U.S. supply chain as well as rising fertilizer costs. Those issues have only been exacerbated by the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
“We need to find a way to expedite the production or the facilitation of the building of these (fertilizer) manufacturing plants in the United States,” Tom said.
Tom would also like to see countervailing duties dropped on ag imports, particularly fertilizers. Still, despite these and other concerns, he contends farmers should trust the president.“I think he’s accomplishing a lot of the things he told us he was going to do during the campaign,” Tom said. “Did it always happen in a way we expected, or did it go to the level we expected? Maybe not, but at the same time, he’s over-delivered in some cases, too.”