A farmers’ group is spending $3 million on advertising targeting Republicans ahead of the midterm elections, criticizing the party’s candidates over the cost of living and animal welfare issues. The campaign comes amid declining support for Republicans in rural America, traditionally a party stronghold, as voters raise concerns about tariffs and rising fuel prices linked to the war in Iran.
The ads, running in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Iowa, are funded by the political action arm of the American Meat Producers Association (AMPA), an organization founded in 2025 that represents farmers who support higher animal welfare standards.
The group lists just one employee on its website: President Holly Rice. Its website does not disclose its donors or membership. However, farmers are among the sources of funding for the midterm advertising campaign, according to Reuters interviews with farmers associated with AMPA.
The ads criticize four incumbent Republicans for supporting a bill in Congress, the Save Our Bacon Act, which would overturn California and Massachusetts laws requiring higher farm animal welfare standards. The laws have been a point of contention for the pork industry for years. AMPA represents farmers who support the stricter standards.
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The ads also address other issues, including the candidates’ support for President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods. One ad targeting U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, a Colorado Republican, says he “voted for Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran, sending prices skyrocketing.”
Rice said the organization is running ads on issues beyond animal welfare because “farmers and ranchers don’t experience policy one bill at a time.”
“These ads point out that certain lawmakers have voting records that have hurt farmers,” Rice said in response to emailed questions, according to Reuters. She declined to identify the major donors to the political action committee running the ads.
Rice said AMPA and its PAC receive support from farmers, meat companies and “people who care about family farming,” but declined to provide further details, Reuters reported.
Farmers have faced record diesel prices, higher fertilizer costs and reduced exports to China this year. Trump plans to provide farmers with $8 billion in diesel aid, bringing government payments to farmers to a record $55.4 billion this year, although the funds are not expected to arrive until after the election.
Many farm groups remain allied with Republicans. The political action arm of the Iowa Farm Bureau, a branch of the national Farm Bureau lobbying group, endorsed all Republican candidates for the House, Senate and state secretary of agriculture in September.
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According to federal campaign finance records, AMPA has spent $2.9 million to date on digital and radio ads. Of that amount, $2.5 million has gone toward ads opposing U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, an Iowa Republican running for the Senate. The ads criticize Hinson’s sponsorship of the Save Our Bacon Act, which she has said would support Iowa’s hog farmers.
“She don’t give a damn about Iowa farmers. She will never feel the pain her votes have inflicted on people like me,” a man says in one ad.
Billy Fuerst, Hinson’s campaign communications director, said, “Iowa farmers strongly support Ashley Hinson because she delivers for agriculture.”
Hinson has been endorsed by the Iowa Corn Growers Association and the state’s Farm Bureau chapter.
Rural approval of Trump fell to a new low of 45% in October, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
AMPA’s spending is not a straightforward effort to elect Democrats. The group has also supported Republicans who share its position on animal welfare standards, including incumbent Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Andrew Garbarino of New York, who have opposed the Save Our Bacon Act.