President Donald Trump is set Friday to visit a farm in Chippewa Falls for a roundtable on farm issues.
The visit to Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District highlights the national importance of that seat, which both parties believe is crucial to determining who holds power in the U.S. House of Representatives. The seat is currently held by staunch Trump ally, Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Prairie du Chien.
And the visit to Custer Farms, west of Chippewa Falls, comes as national polling numbers show Trump’s job approval is near his all-time lows. A national poll by the Marquette University Law School released this week found 38 percent approve of his job performance. Only 30 percent approve of his handling of the economy, and 22 percent approve of how he’s handled inflation and the cost of living.
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Trump has dominated in rural Wisconsin every time he’s been on the ballot, and in his Wisconsin victories in 2016 and 2024 as well as in his 2020 loss, rural parts of the state gave him his highest vote shares.
In 2022, Van Orden won the mostly rural 3rd District by about 3 points after national Democrats pulled ad spending late in the race. In 2024, Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke improved slightly on that margin. Cooke is the frontrunner in a Democratic primary this year that also includes former Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge.
Visit comes as tariffs, rising costs have challenged farmers
The agriculture world has been hit hard by tariffs and inflation over the past couple of years.
Trump’s tariff policies have sharply limited export markets for Wisconsin farmers, and more recently the war in Iran has caused fuel and fertilizer costs to skyrocket. Many farmers are worried about their bottom line, according to Farm Bureau surveys. The price of urea, a nitrogen-based fertilizer that typically ships through the Strait of Hormuz, has fallen since hitting record highs early in the war, but remains about 24 percent higher than a year ago.
Seventy percent of respondents to the April Farm Bureau survey said they couldn’t afford all the fertilizer they need, and the survey noted an increase in farm diesel prices since February. It has had ripple effects across planting and growing seasons.
In a statement to media, a White House spokesperson highlighted Trump’s “strong support for Wisconsin’s farmers — delivering lower input costs, new trade markets, less red tape, a stronger farm safety net, a doubled death tax exemption, no taxes on rural property loan interest, and new Rural Opportunity Zones.”
Editor’s note: This story will be updated.
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