Animal welfare-focused farm group targets Republicans in rural races

A lobbying group that says it represents farmers and meat ‌companies ​is helping to fund $3 million in attack ads against Republicans in some of the most competitive US midterm election races, criticizing the party's candidates on cost-of-living and animal-welfare issues. That sum is a small slice of the billions being poured into the November 3 midterms. But President Donald Trump's Republican Party already faces headwinds among typically stalwart rural supporters due to concerns about tariffs and high fuel ‌costs driven up by the war in Iran.

The ads in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Iowa are paid for by the political action arm of the American Meat Producers Association, an organization founded in 2025 that says it represents farmers who support high animal welfare standards. The group has just one listed employee on its website: its president, Holly Bice, a Washington lobbyist. It does not publicly disclose its donors or member lists and declined to detail them to Reuters.

But farmers are one source of cash for the midterm ads, according to Reuters interviews with farmers ‌associated with the 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 that require higher farm animal welfare standards and which have for years divided the pork industry.

The bill has ‌been endorsed by nearly 400 state and national farm groups. AMPA says it represents farmers who oppose the bill. But the ads also attack the candidates on other topics, like their support for Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods.

One ad against US Representative Gabe Evans, a Colorado Republican, says he "voted for Trump's tariffs and the war in Iran, sending prices skyrocketing." Evans did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Many farm groups have remained allied with Republicans this midterm cycle. For instance, the political action arm of the Iowa Farm Bureau, a branch of the national Farm Bureau lobby group, in September endorsed all Republican candidates for House, Senate and state secretary of ⁠agriculture.

Bice, AMPA's president, ​said the organization is running ads on issues beyond its focus of ⁠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," Bice said in response to emailed questions, declining to name the major donors to its political action committee running the ads.

Bice said AMPA and its PAC are supported ⁠by farmers, meat companies and "people who care about family farming." Russ Kremer, a Missouri hog farmer who is on AMPA's leadership council, said there are roughly 5,000 farmers involved with AMPA and that many had contributed to its PAC, but he did not provide details.

Farmers have been hard hit this year by ​record diesel prices, higher fertilizer costs and reduced exports to China. Trump plans to give farmers $8 billion in diesel aid, bringing government payments to farmers to a record high of $55.4 billion this year, though the funds will not arrive until after ⁠the election. TAKING AIM AT IOWA

AMPA has spent $2.9 million to date on digital and radio ads, according to federal election filings. Of that, about $2.5 million has funded ads opposing US Representative Ashley Hinson, an Iowa Republican, in her Senate race, the filings show. The ads target Hinson's sponsorship of the Save Our Bacon Act, which Hinson 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," says a man in the ad. Billy Fuerst, Hinson's campaign communications director, said: "Iowa farmers strongly support Ashley Hinson because she delivers for agriculture. She has even bucked her own party to get year-round E15 passed out of the House, a critical priority for corn farmers and ethanol producers."

The bill supported by Hinson would expand sales of E15, a higher-ethanol gasoline blend. Dean Frazer, an Iowa hog farmer, told ⁠Reuters he supports Hinson and the Save Our Bacon Act in part because it is costly for farmers to convert their operations to comply with the higher animal welfare standards.

Hinson has been endorsed by the Iowa Corn Growers Association, as well as the ⁠state Farm Bureau chapter. Trump won Iowa by double digits in the 2024 ⁠presidential election, but polls show Democrats tied with or leading Republicans in many of the state's midterm races. Rural approval of Trump hit a new low in October of 45%, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

AMPA's spending is not a straightforward effort to elect Democrats. The group has also backed some Republicans who share its views on animal welfare standards. AMPA has spent $100,000 on ads supporting Republican incumbents Brian Fitzpatrick of ‌Pennsylvania and Andrew Garbarino of New York, who ‌have opposed the Save Our Bacon Act. Both are favored to win in the midterms, according to the latest polls.