Editor's note: This story was produced for the ear and designed to be heard. If you're able, WCMU encourages you to listen to the audio version of this story by clicking the LISTEN button above. This transcript was edited for clarity and length.
David Nicholas: Michigan’s marquee US Senate race could determine which party controls Congress.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers are running on two very different platforms, but they both say they want to help farmers.
And they need it, because as WCMU’s Emma George-Griffin reports, it's more expensive than ever to be a farmer.
She sat down with Tina Sawyer to break down the race.
Tina Sawyer: So, how do these candidates plan to alleviate these stressors for farmers?
Emma George-Griffin: Both candidates told me that they supported suspending the gas tax, which has happened for diesel fuel used for farming and logging at the federal level and in Michigan.
The Rogers’ campaign told me in an email statement that he supports a temporary ban on diesel exports and a diesel rebate for farmers.
Rogers spoke at a corn and soybean farm in Saginaw county last month.
Mike Rogers: When, you know, the world presents opportunities or challenges, excuse me, like we face today, we need to do a little extra for our farmers to make sure that food gets grown and makes its way to our table.
EGG: During an event at a farm in Gratiot County, El-Sayed talked about diesel prices. He said that he’d like to see a limit on how much oil corporations can price gouge Americans.
Abdul El-Sayed: When you have a limited supply of things, the corporations who control that supply tend to be able to make more money off of it. And I do think in a national emergency like this, the idea that these oil and gas corporations can continue to price gouge us is a problem.
EGG: El Sayed also said ending the war in Iran would be a long-term solution to help bring down costs for everyone, including farmers. Rogers has stated that the war needs to end quickly. Like many Republican candidates he has been trying to distance himself from Trump’s policies like the war and tariffs.
TS: Ok, and speaking of tariffs, they’ve been a huge conversation among voters in general. How are they impacting farmers?
EGG: Farmers of varying political views have told me that they think trade policy in the US is too extreme right now.
Prices on everything have gone up and it’s made it harder for them to access the things they need to operate. Farmers who identify with more liberal values say tariffs are not helping anybody, including them.
Adam Bauer is a Republican farmer who works at a large row crop and sugar beet operation in Saginaw County. He says some tariffs are essential and have helped the sugar beet industry.
Adam Bauer: We're never going to agree 100% with 100% of the decisions that someone else is making. There's certain things that are going on that , yes, it has a negative effect right now, but it may have a huge impact on us a year or two down the road.
EGG: Rogers has aligned himself with Trump's values of creating more American-made goods and tariffs are one way that the administration is trying to make that happen. But Rogers has said that our trade policy needs changing. During the last US senate debate, El-Sayed says that there are some necessary tariffs, but he’s made it clear he does not agree with Trump’s trade policy.
TS: How are farmers feeling as they head to the polls this Election Day?
EGG: A lot of farmers have already made up their minds. Rogers has won the endorsement of Michigan Farm Bureau and the Michigan Corn Growers Association and El-Sayed has the endorsement of Michigan’s Farmers Union. It seems like El Sayed is appealing to the smaller acreage farms and specialty crops in central and northern Michigan and Rogers appeals more to the large-scale cash crop operations in the southern part of the state. John Roseland is a farmer I spoke to in Gratiot County. He says he feeling the divide.
John Roseland: Back in the day, farmers would work together. Well, now they work against each other because they want, they're trying to cut the other ones out.
EGG: The Rogers campaign told me that he will focus on protecting Michigan farmland and creating a stronger domestic supply of fertilizer. Earlier this month, El-Sayed pushed out a policy agenda called 'farmers over billionaires.' It focuses on breaking up ag monopolies and creating stronger local food systems. While that sounds great, those policies don’t appeal to every farmer, and that’s where we are seeing a divide.
TS: WCMU's Emma George-Griffin, thank you so much for your update.
EGG: Thank, Tina.
DN: Emma George-Griffin is WCMU's rural life and agriculture reporter.
