An Open Letter to America’s Farmers
How the People Who Feed America Got Cut Out of the Deal...and How to Take the Power Back
An Open Letter to America’s Farmers
How the People Who Feed America Got Cut Out of the Deal …and How to Take the Power Back
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #613: Thursday, October 23rd, 2025.
Brothers and Sisters of the Soil,
You know the sound of a storm before it hits.
The still air. The smell of pressure. The animals going quiet.
That’s where you are right now…another storm rolling in. But this one isn’t weather. It’s policy.
And it’s got your names on it.
The Promise vs. The Pain
When you heard “America First,” you thought it meant you…the ones who plant…raise… harvest…haul…and pray for rain.
You believed it meant the men and women who pull food from the earth would finally stop being treated like background characters in your own country.
But look around. The headlines don’t lie:
Beef imports from Argentina quadrupled.
Tariff barriers lowered.
Billions in foreign lifelines while U.S. producers drown in debt.
Every one of those decisions carves another inch into your profit margin.
When Trump announced that Argentina would be sending more beef to America “to help lower prices,” that may have sounded like relief to some city dwellers.
But to you…and every other farmer…it sounded like the dinner bell for the undertaker.
Because you are the ones who pay that price…not with grocery bills…but with our livelihoods.
What These Policies Really Mean
Here’s the reality, stripped of spin:
Foreign competition surges: Argentina’s government-subsidized beef floods the U.S. market. They don’t play by our rules…our wages…or our standards. They can undercut us without breaking a sweat.
Domestic prices collapse: With extra supply on the market…cattle prices fall…feed costs rise…and the spread between live and retail widens.
Debt deepens: Equipment loans…land notes…feed bills…all harder to pay when your market evaporates.
Local economies bleed out: Each lost ranch takes a feed store…a tractor dealer… and a small-town diner with it.
Independence erodes: The more we rely on imports…the less control we have over our food supply…and the weaker this country becomes when crisis hits.
The same “America First” policies that promised to lift American farmers are now outsourcing your future…one trade deal at a time.
Why This Hurts Worse Than Drought
A drought humbles you…but it doesn’t humiliate you.
This does.
Because it’s man-made. Because it’s deliberate. Because it came from a government that promised to have your back.
The same government that waved the flag and said, “We’ll stand with our farmers,” is now shaking hands with foreign suppliers and telling us to wait our turn.
That’s not America First.
That’s America for sale.
The Knife at Our Throat
You know what happens when the packer margins grow and producer margins shrink. When the top five corporations control the kill floor…the grocery shelf…and now the import market…there’s no competition left.
That’s the knife at your throat.
And the handle is being held in Washington.
But here’s what most folks miss: that knife cuts both ways.
Because every policymaker who depends on rural America for power can lose it… overnight…if you stop pretending you don’t have leverage.
You Still Hold the Reins
You’ve got more power than you think.
You feed the country. You clothe it. You anchor its economy. You decide who fills the seats of government.
So here’s what leverage looks like:
Organize local coalitions: not along party lines…but survival lines. Ranchers…crop producers…dairy…and co-ops speaking with one voice.
Go public: radio…letters…talk shows…local papers. Explain…calmly but firmly… how these trade moves are destroying rural America.
Hit Washington with numbers, not slogans. Demand hard data on import quotas…price impacts…and domestic loss projections.
Tie votes to results. Let your representatives know: if they won’t protect your operation…they won’t get your endorsement.
Refuse to be divided. This isn’t about who you voted for…it’s about who you work for. And that’s your family…your land…your legacy.
The Power of Saying “No More”
Every generation of farmers has faced a moment like this…when you either bow to the system or stand up and make it bow to you.
That time is now.
We can still steer this ship back to common sense…but only if we do it together.
Not as Republicans. Not as Democrats. But as Americans who refuse to let their way of life be auctioned off to the lowest bidder overseas.
The Quiet Revolution
It starts with one sentence:
“You can’t win without us.”
Because that’s the truth.
No politician…no party…no administration can survive without the people who feed the nation.
You’ve been polite long enough.
It’s time to be powerful.
Hold them accountable.
Use your numbers.
Demand reversal.
Because if you don’t…this story ends the same way it has started; another generation lost… another family farm gone…another empty promise in a field full of weeds.
Stay strong. Stay united. Stay loud.
Best,
-Jack
Jack Hopkins, Founder of the Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter
If only it were that easy. We are far down the road of everything sold to the highest bidder. Trump is beholden to the broligarchs. He’s manufacturing crises to make them richer at the expense of the farmers and other average Americans. He has such disdain for regular folk. Clearly we are beneath him, as he so clearly demonstrated with his tasteless AI video dumping shit on us all, the mouth breathers who elected him and gave him the power he’s now abusing so blatantly. All he cares about is using his position to enrich himself; rules, laws and common decency be damned.
Not to mention that they've gutted the Food and Drug administration, and wants these plants to use Inspection's and Oversight on themselves ⁉️no good can come of this regime, Jack, great article today, and will reStack ASAP 💯👍