Ask A Farmer 2 w Rusty Thompson

Summary

Truth in the Barrel: Ask A Farmer 2 w/ Rusty Thompson

Hosts: Amy McGrath & Denver Riggleman
Guest: Rusty Thompson (Farmer, Versailles, Kentucky)
Date: December 2, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Truth in the Barrel brings farmer and Kentucky native Rusty Thompson into conversation with hosts Amy McGrath and Denver Riggleman, both veterans with political and whiskey interests. The discussion focuses on the stark challenges facing American farmers today—trade wars, tariffs, shrinking markets, volatile policy, and rural healthcare. Rusty shares first-hand insight into the economic, political, and personal realities shaping life on the farm in 2025, with particular focus on the impacts of recent presidential and congressional actions on local agriculture and the bourbon industry.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction to Rusty Thompson’s Farm and Operations

• Background: Rusty is a third-generation farmer, running a 1400-acre operation alongside his family.
• Crops & Products: Corn, soybeans, wheat (primarily for straw bedding for the horse industry), cash hay, beef cattle.
• Notable Quote [02:19]:
  “I’m a third generation farmer, was born and raised on the farm right across the road from where we are… We’re taking care of about 1400 acres here on this little road here in Versailles.” —Rusty Thompson

2. Distilleries and Local Markets

• Local Industry: Proximity to major bourbon distilleries such as Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve, and Castle & Key.
• Economic Ties: Local farms supply grains for bourbon production, which generates important income streams.

3. Economic Uncertainty & Market Volatility

• Unprecedented Uncertainty: Market conditions are worse than Rusty has ever seen in 48 years of farming ([04:04]).

• International Market Dynamics: U.S. agriculture is deeply tied to global trade; disruptions have direct impacts at the local level.

• Challenges: Difficulty in marketing products due to tariffs and shifts in international policy, especially concerning China.

  Notable Quote [04:04]:
  “Economically the uncertainty is, is above and beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. I’m 66, started farming when I was 18... The uncertainty is not of what I produce, but how I can market the products that we produce.” —Rusty Thompson

4. Impact of Tariffs and Trade War

• Trade Imbalances & Tariffs: Policies originally intended to correct trade imbalances or encourage manufacturing are failing farmers ([06:58]).

• China’s Response: China, formerly the largest export market for U.S. soybeans, shifted to other suppliers.

• Direct Financial Losses: Soybean tariffs have slashed per-bushel prices and decimated local profits ([07:34]).

  Notable Quote [07:34]:
  “They took $2.50 a bushel minimum off every bushel of soybeans... I took an $80 per acre hit on every acre of soybeans because I don’t have enough storage to ride it out.” —Rusty Thompson

• Too Late for Recent Deals: Recent attempts to strike trade deals with China are seen as “too late” for this year’s crops ([08:13]).

• Argentina’s Role: U.S. government bailout of Argentina allowed them to undercut American farmers and supply China, fueling frustration.

  Notable Quote [09:23]:
  “He wrote a $20 billion check to bail out Argentina... They took the money and they undercut us on US soybeans and sold soybeans to China.” —Rusty Thompson

5. The Beef Market Crisis

• Importing Argentinian Beef: Announcement to buy beef from Argentina caused an immediate market crash for American cattle farmers ([10:12]).

• Price Drop: $240 loss per calf overnight for Rusty after “two Fridays ago” announcement.

• Consumer Impact: No decrease in prices for American consumers; imports mostly hurt farmers and don’t reduce store prices.

  Notable Quote [10:12]:
  “When that announcement came out... the market dropped $240 per calf overnight. There’s 32 million cattle in the United States, Amy. That’s a lot of zeros. It didn’t change the price of hamburger one iota.” —Rusty Thompson

6. Political Disenfranchisement & Congressional Inaction

• Local Sentiment Shift: Farmers appreciated bailout checks but are losing patience; feel they’ve been misled ("You can screw us once...but if you lie to us, it’ll never happen again" [11:32]).
• Congressional Accountability: Deep dissatisfaction with Kentucky’s representation (especially Rep. Barr); lack of town halls and direct engagement is criticized ([13:05]).
• Praise for Dissenters: Rusty commends Rand Paul and Thomas Massie for questioning trade policy.

7. Secondary Effects: Bourbon & Allied Industries

• Collateral Damage: Bourbon industry is suffering from trade retaliation, with bourbon pulled from shelves in Canada and Europe ([15:01]).
• Broader Impact: Knock-on effects for corn farmers, distillers, beef producers, and others who rely on stable export markets.

8. Dysfunctional Federal Agencies

• Farm Service Agency (FSA): Offices closed, farmer assistance stalled; Rusty can’t certify wheat acres or buy insurance for the next crop ([16:04]).

• Costly Bailouts: Every bailout check from the federal government costs all taxpayers, not just farmers ([16:31]).

  Notable Quote [16:35]:
  “I would rather have a market than have a bailout check.” —Rusty Thompson

9. Global Standing: Loss of Goodwill

• USAID & Food Security: Cuts to international food aid harm U.S. reputation and destabilize farmers who benefited from exporting surplus to support diplomatic objectives ([24:31], [24:45]).
• Healthcare Crisis: Farmers struggle with inadequate, expensive coverage and face the danger of rural hospital closures ([23:36]).

10. Policy, Leadership, and Accountability

• Critique of Leadership: Rusty denounces politicians for lacking courage and failing to stand up for rural American interests (“He’s not a leader. Right. A leader encourages. A leader educates...He is not that at all. It’s revenge.” [26:06]).
• Need for Common Sense: Emphasis on electing leaders who will engage with constituents, refuse to be controlled by party loyalty, and can work across the aisle ([32:18]).

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “The American farmer raises the safest and most nutritious food of any country in the world, far beyond anyone else. And I’m proud of that.” – Rusty Thompson [04:36]
• “I gamble every day with bigger dollars than fooling with a dollar scratch off.” – Rusty Thompson [08:52]
• “Congressman Barr, I’m terribly disappointed. He has no backbone. None. He’s a Muppet. He’s a puppet on the Muppet show on Saturdays.” – Rusty Thompson [13:05]
• “We’ve got twice as many barrels of bourbon in Kentucky than we have as a population base. And our president has upset Canada. Bourbon has been taken off of the shelf in Canada. It’s off of the shelves in many of our European Union countries.” – Rusty Thompson [14:52]
• “I would rather have a market than have a bailout check.” – Rusty Thompson [16:35]
• “He is not a leader...It’s revenge.” – Rusty Thompson on Trump [26:06]
• “Our cattle numbers are in a huge decline...you just can’t replace a cow herd overnight.” – Rusty Thompson [28:24]
• “We need more people who have common sense to get back into government and get it running again.” – Rusty Thompson [37:07]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:32 Host sets the stage: The forgotten farmer in American politics
• 02:19 Rusty introduces his family and farm
• 03:31 Impact of local distilleries on the economy
• 04:04 Economic uncertainty and changes in global farm markets
• 06:57 Discussion of tariffs and their stated intentions
• 07:34 Quantifying financial loss: Tariffs and soybeans
• 08:13 The futility of new trade deals
• 09:23 The ramifications of the Argentina bailout
• 10:12 The impact of Argentine beef imports
• 13:05 Frustrations with Congressional representation
• 15:01 The effect of tariffs on Kentucky’s bourbon industry
• 16:31 Bailing out farmers and the public cost
• 23:36 The rural healthcare squeeze and hospital closures
• 24:31 Cuts to USAID and loss of international goodwill
• 26:06 Rusty’s call for real leadership
• 28:24 Cattle cycle explanation and supply issues
• 32:18 What Rusty wants from leaders in Washington
• 37:07 Why common sense is needed in government

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Takeaways

• Farmers are suffering: Trade policy, tariffs, and market volatility have gutted profitability and stability for Rusty and his peers.
• Bailouts are no substitute for markets: Direct payments can’t replace long-term, reliable outlets for selling crops and livestock.
• Broader impact: Policy missteps hurt not just farmers but local economies, the bourbon industry, and global goodwill.
• Demand for accountability: There’s an urgent call for representatives to listen, host town halls, and put constituents above party.
• Need for functioning government: Farmers and rural communities depend on federal agencies that are currently stalled or underfunded.
• Health care and basic services at risk: The collapse of rural hospitals and insufficient health options add to farm families’ stress.
• Leadership should inspire, not divide: Rusty is candid: “A leader encourages. A leader educates.” Revenge and chaos are not policies.

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This episode delivers an unvarnished, grounded view of what’s truly at stake for rural America—and the dangers of political decisions removed from the real lives of the people they impact.

Transcript

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[B]

Have been the backbone of our country. From the dairy farmers in Wisconsin and California to soybean and corn farmers in the Midwest. The cattle farmers right here in Kentucky. They have fed our nation. But more often than not, they are forgotten by our leaders. In Washington, President Trump claims to have the backs of farmers who supported him. But his chaotic tariffs and his most recent big bailout of Argentina are doing real damage to family farms and cattle farmers all around the country. So today on Truth in the Barrel, we're talking to one of them, Rusty Thompson from Versailles, Kentucky. And I can already tell he has a thing or two to say.

[D]

Rusty, thanks for being with us today.

[F]

Well, you're welcome, Amy. Thank you for having me.

[D]

Well, tell us about Your farm, how long you've been here and what it is you do.

[F]

Well, I'm a third generation farmer, was born and raised on the farm right across the road from where we are. My wife and I married in 88 and we purchased this 400 acre farm and mom and dad have passed away and our son Travis, who's 33 now, he is farming, living on the home place. So we're taking care of about 1400 acres here on this little road here in Versailles.

[D]

And what types of agriculture products do.

[F]

You have here on my place? Corn, soybeans, wheat. And really I raise the wheat for the straw. We're here in central Kentucky with the thoroughbred industry and they need straw bedding. And so straw is a big market for us. Cache Hay is our primary money winner along with beef cattle. Tobacco is sort of, it sort of just, just about disappeared here in Kentucky. Unfortunately we recognize that and we diversified several years ago and we've got a large equine industry base that we take care of for horse hay and horse bedding throughout the year.

[D]

And you have some distilleries around here, right?

[F]

Yeah, you know, we've got two here in Woodford County. We've got Wild Turkey. Wild Turkey is right across the river in Anderson county from where I live. Just right across the river we have Woodford Reserve, which is an annex of Brown Foreman and we have Castle and Key and that's been open probably three or four years. Woodford Reserve, Castle Key are almost neighbors, just, you know, they're three or four miles from here, not far.

[D]

How has, how have things been this year in comparison to other years for you?

[F]

Economically the uncertainty is, is above and beyond anything I've ever experienced. I'm 66, started farming when I was 18, went to UK, got a degree in production agriculture. And the uncertainty is not of what I produce, but how I can market the products that we produce. The American farmer raises the safest and most nutritious food of any country in the world, far beyond anyone else. And I'm proud of that. I'm proud that I know that I can put a product on the shelf at Kroger's or any other grocery that I know is a safe and nutritious product that non farmers who are essentially 99% of our country can purchase and feed their families with.

[D]

Why has the market been so crazy and the buying and selling of products?

[F]

Well, you know, marketing agricultural products today is a lot different than it was 10 years ago. 15, 20 for sure. It's an international market right now. Everything. Everything. You, as a consumer, you want to go to the grocery and you want to buy a particular item of produce. You can get it anywhere day of the year here in the United States. That's because internationally, agriculture supplies products all around the world. But for us, this past year, our. Our president, President Trump, he has a difficult time in trying, in realizing that. That he can't control the entire world, even though he thinks he can. And he has made a lot of unhappy leaders, unhappy constituents around the world because of his. Every day he's got another agenda on his mind, and it has really, really hurt the grain industry, particularly soybeans. China was our primary number one export. You know, I wanted to take my soybeans two weeks ago and just dump them on the. In the hole where my White House used to be.

[D]

Right? Yeah.

[F]

Because where it used to be.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

You know.

[D]

Well, let's talk about that for a minute. The tariffs have. Some have been something that. From the very beginning, when this policy was enacted by our president, my thought was, number one, why? What do you intend to get out of this? And there were, you know, three or four different reasons.

[F]

Sure.

[D]

Why they said that.

[F]

A good deal.

[D]

Right. I mean. I mean, it was, you know, first it was, we got to have a trade. We have a trade imbalance. We got to fix that. Well, that. That doesn't really matter. And then they said, well, we're going to bring manufacturing back. Well, we've lost manufacturing jobs. Right. And then they say, well, we got to go after the. The Chinese for intellectual property. And this is a way. Well, nothing has changed.

[F]

Nothing's changed.

[D]

And the tariffs have been across the board, lots of different countries, not just China, but the Chinese ones are the ones that affect you, am I right?

[F]

Yeah. They took $2.50 a bushel minimum off of every bushel of soybeans. And 95% of the soybeans are already harvested in the United States as fault. It's over.

[D]

It's over.

[F]

Harvest is done, essentially. And if you don't have storage capacity, you have to go on and take them to the market. So I took a. I took an $80 per acre hit on every acre of soybeans because I don't have enough storage to ride out, hopefully.

[D]

What about this deal, Rusty, that the president just made with the Chinese president? What's.

[F]

It's too late.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

It's too late for this crop here. And, you know, with. Even though the Federal Reserve has reduced the interest rates a quarter and another quarter, half a point, that puts operating loans down at 6.9 to 7.1, 7.2. So a lot of these farmers, myself included, we borrow operating money. You've got to pay that back. You're taking a loss on top of a drought. And we deal with excess of rain or droughts every year. You know, I as a farmer go into these gas stations. Would you like to buy a lottery ticket?

[D]

No.

[F]

I gamble every day with bigger dollars than fooling with a dollar scratch off. But the uncertainty of, of losing half of our soybean market to China. My biggest question, if he were sitting here in this chair, Amy, I would ask him, what does the Argentine president, dictator. What do I as a farmer in Versailles, Kentucky owe him? I don't owe him nothing.

[D]

Well, let's talk about.

[F]

He wrote a $20 billion check to bail out Argentina church, short term. And what did they do? They took the money and they undercut us on US Soybeans and sold soybeans to China.

[D]

Yeah. And then we haven't even talked about the Argentinian beef.

[F]

Oh, no, let's talk about that.

[D]

Let's talk about that. So right now the President has talked about buying beef from Argentina.

[F]

Right.

[D]

Because the prices are high here. The prices of everything are high here right now, thanks in large part to these tariffs. But the President has said, well, let's just go buy a bunch of beef from Argentina. What do you think about that?

[F]

When that announcement came out two Fridays ago, it dropped the market 40 cents a pound. And I had just completed. I buy steers in the fall. Boy calves. I buy steers in the fall. Took me a month and I finished up. And when he made that announcement, the market dropped $240 per calf overnight. There's 32 million cattle in the United States, Amy. That's a lot of zeros. Yeah. It didn't change the price of hamburger one iota.

[D]

So it's not helping.

[F]

No, it's not helping me, the consumer. Oh, it's killing. It killed us.

[D]

Yeah. And it's not consumers.

[F]

No, it's not going to help the consumers because I can guarantee that my, my meat, my beef is safer and more nutritious than the non inspected beef coming in from Argentina. So, so what does mom want to put on the table tonight for her children and her husband and family?

[D]

Yeah. What do you think your fellow farmers think right now? Do they feel like, hey, maybe I shouldn't have gone with this guy Trump? Maybe he really doesn't know from when.

[F]

He was president six years ago, eight years ago, whenever it was first term, 2016. I received more checks in the mailbox from USDA and I'd ever gotten in my life. So most of the farmers, I only know two here in Woodford county that voted on a Democratic ticket. But they, they, they like those envelopes. The farmers like those envelopes. But right now I feel you don't see a lot of them jumping up and down, waving a flag, make America great. You know, you, you can, you can screw us once, pardon my language, but if you lie to us, it'll never happen again.

[D]

Well, what are you seeing or hearing from? Because it's not just the President. The President has been able to unilaterally enact these tariffs without any pushback from Republican led Congress. Now we have this thing called the Constitution, as you know, Rusty, which says that, you know, they shouldn't be able to do that.

[F]

Congress actually, that's why we have three branches of government.

[D]

Right. But nevertheless they've done it because my belief is that Congress has been MIA and the Republicans are too cowardly to stand up for everyday people and their own constituents. But I'm curious to what you think about that. What should lawmakers in Congress be doing if we actually had a Congress that had some. I don't know.

[F]

Well, right, right here in my congressional district. Congressman Barr, I'm terribly disappointed. He has no backbone. None. He's a Muppet. He's a puppet on the Muppet show on Saturdays. I will commend Rand Paul for standing up, asking who and why we're, we're shooting these boats down, down in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela, which isn't far from Aruba, where all these cruise ships go, why we're doing that. And last night he said he was going to put men on the dirt in Nigeria with rifles and go shoot the mercenaries that are killing Christians. So that's next on our agenda.

[D]

I'm not sure how that's, I don't.

[F]

Know how that's going to shake the first. I'm jumping around on you.

[D]

But, but, but Rand Paul, Senator Paul has come out and said something against tariffs. Yes, unfortunately, he's the only one.

[F]

And early, early in the campaign McConnell did say that tariffs don't work. That's proven history. But I haven't heard a word from, from Senator McConnell in months. I hear nothing from my local congressman. You know, here we are in Woodford county in his district. We've got all these bourbon distilleries. We have twice as many barrels of bourbon in Kentucky than we have as a population base. And our president has upset Canada. Bourbon has been taken off of the shelf in Canada. It's off of the shelves in many of our European Union countries. And, you know, Woodford county sells corn to Woodford Reserves, Castle and Key Wood, while turkey. You know, there's going to come a point that we've got a lot of bourbon out there and we don't have a market for it.

[D]

Right.

[F]

And now you've smacked the soybean farmers a little bit. Now you've smacked the beef cattle farmers and ranchers from across the country who for the most part in our Midwest and western cattle ranching states supported, supported him. But, you know, if you've got a closed FSA office who writes checks and can't write a check because there's no money in the pot, how long, how long are they going to really support this with Christmas and farm payments?

[D]

What's FSA stand for?

[F]

The Farm Service Agency. And that's where all recorded farms are under the umbrella of the USDA Department of Agriculture. They have our farming history of, of when we raise tobacco. They have maps of our farms, of how much corn we raise, how many soybeans, cattle on hand, wheat acres. And you have certified these if you want crop or livestock insurance. Right now it's time for me to certify my wheat acres. Yeah, I can't do it.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

It's time for me to buy my crop insurance for my 2026 wheat. So all I can do is go draw it on a map with my little crayons and they stick it in a file.

[D]

And also, I think something that is not talked about enough is that every time the US Taxpayer bails out farmers because of these, in my belief, really dumb policies, it costs us money. It costs everybody money.

[F]

It costs everybody.

[D]

It's not something that you want.

[F]

No, no.

[D]

I mean, obviously you want.

[F]

I would rather have a market than have a bailout check. And unfortunately, that's what happened in his first term as President Trump. He bailed them out. He bailed him out with an easy check.

[D]

And what did we get as a country from that first term? Does anybody know? Does anybody know what those, you know, those tariffs that were enacted before got us? Nobody knows.

[F]

Nobody knows. Nobody knows. You know, you know the tariff that he enacted on, on China, now he says everything's hunky dory and it's going to be business as normal. Hey, that those ships are going to Brazil.

[D]

And on top of that, the. This deal that was just done last week now between our president and the Chinese president for China to give. Apparently they said that they would, they would buy a certain amount of soybeans from the United States going forward. The problem with that, and the Trump administration touts this is, look at this great deal.

[F]

Oh, yeah.

[D]

But the thing about it is it's actually less, less than what we did a year ago. So they've enacted these policies, shot ourselves in the foot.

[F]

Right.

[D]

And now they're coming back and basically saying, hey, we bandaged the foot. Give us, give us some kudos for abandoning, you know, when it's not even healed.

[F]

It's not better. I'll give you a situation. And I knew that I could get a direct answer this morning from my fertilizer provider here in Woodford County. I said, what about potash? Potash is one of the essential fertilizers that we put on corn and Soybeans. Potash. And 95% of all the potash in the world is mined in Saskatchewan, Canada. There's a 600 year supply inside that big hole up there. 600 years. So I asked my fertilizer supplies. Well, what's, what's happened now since he's upset? Canada? Well, he says, you know what, they put a moratorium on potash. They're not going to tariff potash because he knows that that will upset the vast majority of row crop producers, whether it's corn, beans, vegetables, cotton, rice, any of that, because they all need potash. And all of our potash comes right across the North Dakota border. So that's not politics. Don't, you know, don't give me this.

[D]

Well, that may be the next step.

[F]

It could be, but potash is at an all time low. And he says right now, whoever's yanking his chain in Washington said don't put a tariff on the potash because you'll lose the rural farmer vote. Well, it's real close right now whether he's lost that vote or not.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

On soybeans and beef because, you know, it's, it's tough. But that's, that's not the only thing, that, you know, Bar has set aside and watched our bourbon injuries take a hit. He's watched beef cattle take a hit here in his district. Now the soybeans.

[D]

Why? What do you think is the truth as to why he can't stand up for probably the most basic constituent that you would have here in Kentucky?

[F]

I just don't know, Amy. I really, I do not know. You know, he had zero town hall meetings back in the summer. We heard about this nationally, that the Republicans didn't Would try to have one or just totally disregard it. He had zero, zero, you know, and now he's running these ads. I'm. I'm the man. I'm with the man. And, you know, Congressman Massie stood up and said no and stomped his foot. And Senator Paul has stomped his foot and is still. But I just don't know, honestly, Amy, if we can make it 13 more months before these midterm elections as a nation. Yeah, you know, it was, we don't want to be in a war. Now he's, you know, he went to Iran, now he's fighting Venezuela. Now he's going to go to Nigeria. He's forgot Ukraine. He's wanting to go back and look over the border to Afghanistan at the Russians. We're spread awful thin right now.

[D]

It seems very chaotic.

[F]

He walked out of NATO. You know, he wants to pull out of NATO. So it's so chaotic.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

And then he knocked down the White. Of our White House.

[D]

The White House.

[F]

I'd love to have the opportunity to stand in front of him and I'd like to tell him that he needs to feel reluctant that I and my wife are allowing him to live in this facility rent free.

[D]

Yeah, well, it's the house. It's people's house.

[F]

People's house. It wouldn't bother me a bit in the world to stand up and in front of him and say that.

[D]

What. Policy aside, what are some of the things you love about farming?

[F]

Oh, I love putting seed in the ground. I love watching the baby animals grow up. Every day is a different job. I'm my own boss. You know, the best part of the day is watching the sun come up, the cattle coming in the barn, eating their feed.

[D]

When you say you're your own boss, and I'm gonna shift gears just a little bit and you can. We can, we can not talk about this if you don't want to. We can always edit.

[F]

I'm good with everything.

[D]

You're your own boss. Talk to me about healthcare. A little bit about, you know, here in Kentucky we have the Affordable Care Act. Correct. We have the exchanges. A lot of small. You're basically your own small business. You work for yourself. You're not, you know, you don't have an employer based coverage.

[F]

Well, I'm fortunate that I do. My wife is a retired 4H extension agent, worked for University of Kentucky, and she was hired at that particular time as a federal appointment. So she has health care after she retired. And luckily I get to piggyback off of her now. I'm 65 now, so I signed up for Medicare and Martha's on Medicare as well, so she's going to a meeting in Lexington tomorrow with the. All the federal workers to learn about this new. The enrollment date.

[D]

Right, right.

[F]

I can't. I don't know.

[D]

But a lot of farmers that might.

[F]

But a lot of farmers. Yeah. I don't know what's going to happen.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

I mean, they're.

[D]

This is a real problem.

[F]

This is huge problem because both my urban and, and, and farm family friends have a very, very high deductible to get the least premium, you know, $5,000 deductible. That.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

That's a bunch.

[D]

It's a lot. And I'm also worried about the 35 rural hospitals that are at risk of closure because of this.

[F]

I mean, that's, I just don't know what's going to happen. You know, they depend on a lot of this and, you know, it's going to be a big, big sticker shock, you know, you know, the big bill back here in the spring, you know, his great bill did away with the USAID school lunch programs. School lunch programs.

[D]

Yeah. School lunch programs.

[F]

Our head start.

[D]

Yep.

[F]

And now the SNAP dollars. I don't know what happened today. You know, I'd like to break his plate. He needs to go hungry. He wants to blame that on a lie that they won't come to the table. But no, this. His SNAP dollars. It's there. Well, judges said you need to, you need to step up.

[D]

Well, and I also want to ask you about USAID because it's not really talked about a lot.

[F]

No.

[D]

Anymore. And it should be. USAID was the United States Agency for International Development. And a lot of what farmers in America did was help feed the rest of the world. Yeah.

[F]

Yes, sir.

[D]

Every.

[F]

Every day. Every day. Shiploads. Shiploads to all countries around the world. You know, milk, meat, grains, dairy products.

[D]

And we could, we could afford to.

[F]

Do that and provided us a lot.

[D]

Of good goodwill farmers with a lot.

[F]

Of, of take care of our allies. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, there's a lot of, you know, you go, you go flying around the world to make a good deal. You've got 42 million that's waiting on a decision today where there'll be funding on snap. You've got health insurance, the Obama Affordable Care Act. He doesn't want that at all. And come hell or highway, he'll never agree to that. I hope I'm wrong. He'll never agree to meet in the middle on that, but.

[D]

And meanwhile, we're bailing out Argentina.

[F]

While we're bailing out Argentina. What gets me even more, Amy, is that I bought him a 420 million dollar 747 that's sitting in Arizona. It's going to cost a billion plus dollars to get it. To get it right. And I'm going to give it to him right now. He's knocked down the White House.

[D]

Yep.

[F]

And then there's that other lady that works for him. Noem. What's her name? Noem.

[D]

Kristi Noem.

[F]

Wears the big belt buckle in the cowboy hat. Thinks she's hot stuff. It was announced that he's Gonna buy her two new airplanes. $172 million, you know, and we've got people going hungry today. Today, today. And all food pantries right here in Versailles, churches. We're beating ourselves up trying to keep our food pantry to provide for our citizens. Here in Woodford county, our state governments are reaching into emergency funds to help feed these folks. He's going to drain all of our pots. He's. He's not a leader. Right. A leader encourages. A leader educates. A leader has enthusiasm and puts. Puts responsibility back on you and me. And when we're ready. As a leader, you need to get out of the people's way. He is not that at all. It's revenge.

[D]

I just think that the fact that his policies have so hurt the American farmer, the American cattle farmer, for example, it's just so tone deaf. And I mean, when you think of the very people who voted for him to lower prices, and he's just doing the opposite.

[F]

Like, you know, just, just that. That's been my greatest fear since the cattle market prices started going up here in the last two and a half years. Why are the prices high? Because our cattle numbers nationally are low. And why are they low? Because there was excessive drought in Texas and several other midwestern western states. Farmers couldn't afford to keep buying hay from Kentucky, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana to feed their cow herds, so they had to sell their herds. You just can't replace a cow herd overnight.

[D]

Right.

[F]

So our cattle numbers are in a. In a huge decline. So supply is short. The demand is high for us beef. Our consumers like beef. And so, you know, it's a. It takes two and a half years to get a young girl calf to be producing a calf that I can sell it to market. That takes another nine months to feed out at the feedlot, to be on the counter either at the grocery store and in a restaurant of your choice. It takes a long time. Our herd is going to rebuild, but it's still going to take another probably two years. Wow, two years. You know, it comes in cycles and we're really in a down cycle. If it wasn't for breaking, breaking our backs, the notion of bringing in foreign beef, it's just hard to swallow. Amy. Yeah, you know, when, when we as cattle farmers thought just three weeks ago we missed the bullet. He's, he's hitting the soybean farmers. Then it was our turn. So who's next? I don't know who's next, unfortunately. I think it's the consumers that are receiving the SNAP benefits. I think that's who's next this week.

[D]

I mean, it's just tragic. And there's no to me, the whole idea of everything happening. I don't, no one's told me why. No one's given me an answer as to why.

[F]

No, and the answer has to come from him because the puppets around him will not answer that question.

[D]

You know, he was asked last night by a reporter on 60 Minutes.

[F]

Yeah, I missed that.

[D]

Yeah, well, apparently I was afraid I'd.

[F]

Go to bed angry, so I totally avoided that interview.

[D]

I missed it too, because I was watching football. But apparently he was asked and why, you know, if Congress, the courts are saying that you can't unilaterally impose these tariffs and if what the, if this makes its way through the courts and goes to the Supreme Court and, you know, they say that you can't do this, what's your plan? What's your economic plan? Because your big economic plan, Mr. President, was to, you know, worldwide tariffs. Right?

[F]

Yeah. What was his response?

[D]

His response apparently was well, well, you know, the courts are going to be on my side because, you know, I've attacked the courts, but yeah, but there wasn't a plan. In other words, he's a one trick pony. His economic plan are these tariffs. And to me, they don't, I mean, they don't appear to be doing anything helpful.

[F]

We're having to pay for the tariff.

[D]

We are paying for it.

[F]

The consumers are paying.

[D]

They're not paying down the deficit. Debt they've added to the deficit and the debt, they're not bringing back manufacturing. They're not fixing any of these problems that we have with the Chinese taking our intellectual property or any of that. None of those behaviors have changed. We've also put them on our allies for no reason at all.

[F]

I just don't get it. I keep hearing he wants rare earth metals, rare earth minerals, you know, well, that's why he wanted Greenland. Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

That's why he wants Canada.

[D]

It makes no sense.

[F]

Makes no sense. No.

[D]

Let me ask you this, though, before we wrap up. I'm obviously, you know, this is. This is my podcast, but I'm running for. For U.S. senate. What. What would you want from your leaders in Washington? And so that's my first question, and my second one is, do you. Do you have any questions of me? Is there anything that you.

[F]

I think our leaders in Washington, all of them on both sides, used to be an aisle. There's a wall now. Yeah. I mean, there's a wall. You know, the Democrats wouldn't. Were not invited to hear about what went on with these war plans with the Caribbean aircraft carrier fleet last week. Yep, we're not invited. If elected folks like yourself or anybody else needs to stand up in front of him, but you need other leaders like yourself, besides you. There needs to be a bunch.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

And say no.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

Say no and not be afraid to say it. I feel like I'm terribly disappointed in the Republican Party because no one will consistently say no. And even though some are asking questions, they're not getting answers. The American public is not getting answers.

[D]

I feel like I could go up there and work with Senator Paul, work with Thomas Massie, work with Morgan McGarvey, and be able to say, okay, we have some power in the Congress. There's a lot of stuff going on. We need demand answers. And we're going to stand up against these tariffs. We're going to release the Epstein files. We're going to make sure that we are doing our job as, As a equal co. Equal branch of government.

[F]

You know, so much has happened here since he was inaugurated. Just so much has happened. We can't stack it up in this barn. There's so much. But all those federal employees that were let go, what are they doing? I feel so sorry for those individuals, both men and women, that's dedicated their. All over this nation. Federal employees.

[D]

You know, it's terrible.

[F]

It's terrible. And now we've got folks that are. That are working, that aren't getting paid, and that's not right.

[D]

Air traffic controllers.

[F]

Air traffic controllers. My question, are the meat inspectors still working in the kill plants that are federally. I don't know.

[D]

I don't know.

[F]

I don't know. Are they working in the dairies where. Where they're bottling milk? Are they out in California on the vegetable line?

[D]

That's a.

[F]

That's a. I don't know.

[D]

That's A really good question that you bring up because I don't know if you've been overseas. I've been many places. Okay. And I gotta tell you, in the military, I have been to places, other countries where they don't have meat inspectors. No, I know they don't have the standards that we have. And those standards have to be enforced. And I gotta tell you, tell you, I've been to some countries. A lot of them end with Stan and you can eat something and you almost like did not survive it. I mean, it is not fun.

[F]

No.

[D]

I kind of like going to Kroger and knowing that the meat that I'm going to get there is, is got.

[F]

The blue stamp on it.

[D]

Amen.

[F]

And I, I, I'd love to have those qu. Question. Questions, answers. The consumers, I don't, I don't, I don't think a lot of them realize that, that the people that inspect and put the stamp and verify from a third party source that what's it, Kroger on the shelf.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

Is good stuff.

[D]

That's all part of our federal government.

[F]

That's a part of administration. That's part of the umbrella slashing. That's right. Yeah, that's right. You know, Snap comes out of usda, usa, that came out of usda, the school lunch programs. Usda.

[D]

Right.

[F]

We've got our, our national parks. Usda. It's a large, large department.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

And, and unfortunately our Secretary of Agriculture, bless her heart. Good Lord, I haven't heard her name.

[D]

I mean, they're all just, she needed.

[F]

All the help she could get. In late March, if you know this, but President Biden had issued 30 to 35 million in disaster funds in early December of 24 that were to be sent out. And she had to get this sent out and she had to beg for help from previous employees to get those checks out. And that's the last peep we've heard from her. That was March 19th. Wow. March 19th.

[D]

It's just a shame. And I think we need more people who have common sense to get back into government and get it running again.

[F]

I agree. It's, it's, it's tough. It's tough. You know, why don't you run for something, Rust? Well, I like being on the other side to ask you or any other elected official questions. To hold you accountable.

[D]

Yep.

[F]

Or to hold them account. Anyone, you know, And I would love.

[D]

Nothing more than to get in office and continually have a conversation. Because if I'm not doing my job and listening to you, if I'm not doing the town halls and I'm not representing you all, then I should be kicked out.

[F]

That's a disservice.

[D]

Amen.

[F]

And honestly, right now, there's a whole bunch of them up there right now. Yeah, it's a total disservice.

[D]

Wealthiest country in the world and we've got people.

[F]

It only takes two weeks to get a ship from China to us. Just two weeks. That's all. But all these toys and this back to school, all that stuff was marked up. So, you know. Yeah, it's tough. Well, a lot of issues on our plate. A lot of issues.

[D]

And we need serious people to get into office who are not, you know, beholden to their party or beholden to one person.

[F]

Amen.

[D]

You know, I appreciate you talking to me today. This is really important. It's important for our country. It's important for our listeners and everyone to be able to hear from real Kentucky farmers who are dealing with all the stuff that's happening in our country every day. I appreciate it.

[F]

Every day. All right, Rusty, good luck.

[D]

You bet.

[E]

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[G]

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