许多支持总统的州的农民表示，他们正面临四面楚歌的局面，而关键的中期选举仅剩几周时间。
Many farmers in states that backed the president say they are being hit from all sides, with the crucial midterm elections just weeks away.
谢拉·弗林 内布拉斯加州牧场主伊薇特·曼农已经度过了艰难的一年。
By Sheila Flynn Nebraska rancher Yvette Mannon was already having a rough year.
四月份，一场野火烧毁了她2002年购买的牧场上的1600英亩放牧地和13英里（21公里）的围栏。该牧场坐落在内布拉斯加州的一个角落，这里有起伏的绿色山丘，广袤的中西部天空，景观中点缀着谷物筒仓和饲料场，旁边是无尽的牛群放牧地。
In April, a wildfire destroyed 1,600 grazing acres and 13 miles (21 km) of fence along the ranch she bought in 2002. The ranch is nestled in a corner of Nebraska that's home to rolling green hills under sweeping Midwestern skies, the landscape dotted with grain silos and feedlots alongside fields and fields of bovines.
曼农的300头牛在大火中幸存下来——但围栏需要更换，牛群仍需喂养。
Mannon's 300 cattle survived the blaze - but the fencing needed to be replaced, and the herd still needed to be fed.
由于钢材价格多年来达到最高水平，且受到美国总统唐纳德·特朗普所征收关税的严重影响，这意味着每英尺需要花费4.89美元——总费用超过30万美元。
With steel prices at their highest levels in years, heavily affected by tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, that meant spending $4.89 a foot - for a total exceeding $300,000.
此外，由于大量优质放牧地被毁，曼农还需要每天使用拖拉机向牛群运送干草——而此时，由于伊朗战争导致柴油价格飙升，比去年同期上涨了超过40%。
On top of that, because so much good grazing land had been destroyed, Mannon also needed a tractor out every day delivering hay to her cattle - at a time when diesel prices, spiking due to the Iran War, were up more than 40% from the previous year.
随后，八月份，特朗普政府宣布将进口30万吨免税外国牛肉，以降低消费者价格。这一消息恰好在美国大多数犊牛断奶并出售的九月至十一月窗口期之前传出。牛市应声暴跌。“这感觉像是一种背叛”“我们是说‘买美国货’，‘让美国再次伟大’，”63岁的曼农说道，她曾投特朗普一票。“但对你们这些人来说，抱歉。” “这真的感觉像是一种背叛，”她说。
Then in August, the Trump administration announced it would import 300,000 metric tons of duty-free foreign beef in a bid to lower consumer prices. The news hit right before the September-November window when most US calves are weaned and sold. The cattle market tanked immediately. 'It felt like a betrayal' "So we're 'Buy American', 'Let's Make America Great'," said Mannon, 63, who voted for Trump. "But for you guys over here, sorry." "It just felt like a betrayal," she said.
美国各地的许多农民和牧场主表示，他们正面临四面楚歌的局面。近年来形势艰难，干旱影响了作物产出，而牛群数量本来就处于历史低位。但他们表示，政府政策进一步加剧了这种压力。
Many farmers and ranchers across the US say they are being hit from all sides. Recent years have been difficult, with drought affecting crops and already historically low cattle herds. But they say government policies have added to the strain.
这导致一些内布拉斯加州的居民——该州在上次选举中压倒性地支持特朗普总统——开始重新审视他们的政治立场。
That has left some in Nebraska, which overwhelmingly backed President Trump during the last election, reassessing their political allegiances.
丹·奥斯本是一名独立候选人，正在与特朗普支持的共和党人皮特·里克茨竞争，在11月参议院选举前的民意调查中表现出人意料之外的良好表现。
Dan Osborn, an independent candidate running against Trump-backed Republican Pete Ricketts, is performing surprisingly well in the polls ahead of November's Senate race.
共和党人显然意识到农民之间的分歧和挫败感。特朗普和内布拉斯加州州长吉姆·皮伦在最近几周都宣布了旨在降低农民和牧场主燃油成本的救济政策，他们表示已经连续几个月在挣扎。
Republicans seem keenly aware of the discord and frustration among farmers. Both Trump and Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen have in recent weeks announced relief policies aimed at lowering fuel costs for farmers and ranchers, who say they have been struggling for months.
伊朗战争导致柴油和肥料价格飙升——这两者都是农业作业的日常必需品。关税影响了机械成本和维修，以及钢材和木材价格。
The Iran War has sent diesel and fertiliser prices skyrocketing - both daily necessities for agricultural operations. Tariffs have affected machinery costs and repairs, as well as steel and lumber prices.
特朗普政府的决定——无论是进口外国牛肉还是开放南部边境以接纳墨西哥牛——都使已经波动的市场陷入过度运转。
And decisions by the Trump administration - whether it be importing foreign beef or opening up the southern border to Mexican cattle - have sent already-volatile markets into overdrive.
许多生产者每头牛都在损失数百美元。"所有这些因素共同作用，对整个牛市场产生了负面影响，"阿肯色州大学助理教授、农业经济学家詹姆斯·米切尔说道。
Many producers are losing hundreds of dollars per head of cattle. "All of this hit cattle markets, as a whole, negatively," said James Mitchell, an assistant professor and agricultural economist at the University of Arkansas.
牛市场呈10至12年周期运行，他说，其中有些年景好，有些年景差。该行业最近经历了一段特别繁荣的时期，当时供应低、需求高推动了价格上涨。但如今，市场显然正处于下行周期。
Cattle markets run in 10-12 year cycles, he said, with some good years and some bad. The industry recently enjoyed a particularly lucrative period, where low supply and high demand drove up prices. But now, the market is clearly on a downswing.
45岁的杰克·沃尔芬格一直在位于内布拉斯加州列克星敦附近的饲料场度过这次低迷期。他和妻子都是俄亥俄州本地人，来自多代耕种家庭。他们搬到内布拉斯加——该州拥有肥沃的土地和全国最丰富的地下水——以此闯出自己的一片天地。
Jake Wolfinger, 45, has been weathering the downturn at his feedlot near Lexington, Nebraska. He and his wife are both Ohio natives hailing from multi-generational farming families. They moved to Nebraska - which enjoys lush land and the most groundwater in the nation - to strike out on their own.
沃尔芬格夫妇在2010年购买了一处破旧的饲料场，如今他们已将其打造成一个拥有5500头牛的现代化运营。邻居们将他们视为在艰难行业中，勤劳仍能创造奇迹的典范。
The Wolfingers bought a dilapidated feedlot in 2010, which they have turned into a sophisticated operation with 5,500 cattle. Neighbours point to them as an example of what hard work can still do in a tough industry.
但沃尔芬格在规划时并未考虑伊朗战争、关税或外国牛肉进口的影响。
But Wolfinger did not factor the Iran War, tariffs or foreign beef imports into his planning.
事情进行得还不错，"他说，他以每百磅240美元的价格出售牛只——但现在降到了每百磅225美元。这可能看起来不算什么，但这意味着每头牛可能损失数百美元。
"Things were just chumming along pretty good," he said, selling cattle for $240 per hundredweight - but that's dropped to $225. That may not seem like much, but it means a loss of potentially hundreds of dollars a head.
沃尔芬杰还面临着高昂的柴油成本，一些设备每天要消耗400加仑的油箱。"这真的让人深思，"他说。
Wolfinger is also contending with sky-high diesel costs, with some equipment going through 400-gallon tanks a day. "It really makes a guy think," he said.
沃尔芬杰是特朗普的支持者，他说他之所以投票给总统，是因为"我们需要他的精神在这个国家"。他还对左翼所谓的"觉醒DEI"政策表示不满。
A Trump supporter, Wolfinger said he voted for the president because "we needed his spirit in this country". He also expressed frustration with what he called "woke DEI" policies on the left.
但他对总统干预牛肉市场的方式感到不满。"人们应该滚开，别管农民的事，因为现在是收获季节，"沃尔芬杰说。"人们应该滚开，别管农民的事"——距离这里西北四十英里，靠近内布拉斯加州的卡拉韦，54岁的杜安·金博尔站在他机器满满的棚子里，墙上还挂着一面巨大的特朗普横幅。"每天的额外费用……有点痛苦，"他说。"我知道很多人不得不回到银行，增加他们的信贷额度。"金博尔认为伊朗战争早就该结束了。
But he is unhappy with the way the president has intervened in the beef market. "People need to stay the hell out of farmers' business, because it's harvest time," Wolfinger said. 'People need to stay the hell out of farmers' business' Forty miles northwest, near Callaway, Nebraska, 54-year-old Duane Kimball stands in his shed surrounded by machinery - and a huge Trump banner along one wall. "The daily upcharge… is kind of painful," he said. "I know a lot of people have had to go back to their banks and increase their lines of credit." Kimball believed the Iran War would have ended long ago.
但他并不认为特朗普应对所有他的经济挑战负责。"把这归咎于这个政府，我认为不公平，"他说。
But he does not blame Trump for all of his economic challenges. "To pin that on this administration, I don't think is a fair assessment," he said.
他指出，繁琐的法规以及机械和肥料成本的上升——这些趋势早在特朗普重返白宫之前就已经开始了。
He pointed to cumbersome regulations as well as the rising cost of machinery and fertiliser - trends that began before Trump returned to the White House.
曼农在银行工作后回到内布拉斯加老家并购买了这个牧场，她相信农业行业将在中期选举中表达其诉求。但就像这里很多人一样，她更倾向于不参与过多的政治辩论。
Mannon, who returned to her native Nebraska and bought the ranch after a career in banking, believes the agricultural industry will show its feelings at the midterms. But like many around here, she prefers not to engage in too much political debate.
这对她的朋友和附近的牧场主吉姆·詹金斯来说不是问题。詹金斯曾是独立参议员候选人，他对内布拉斯加的农业和他自己的牧场深感自豪，该牧场坐落在他家族超过150年前开垦的土地上。
That is not a problem for her friend and nearby rancher Jim Jenkins. A former independent senatorial candidate, Jenkins is fiercely proud of Nebraska agriculture and his own ranch, which is on land his family homesteaded more than 150 years ago.
詹金斯对他认为正在损害内布拉斯加农业产业的政策感到愤怒，以至于他在今年夏天在奥马哈的一份报纸上发表了一篇评论文章。
Jenkins has been so incensed by the policies he feels are harming Nebraska's agricultural industry that he wrote an opinion article over the summer in an Omaha paper.
他本人也感受到了压力，提到柴油、肥料、木材和钢材成本高昂——从铁丝网到围栏柱，一切都受到影响。
He has felt the squeeze personally too, citing high diesel, fertiliser, lumber and steel costs - everything from barbed wire to fence posts.
他表示，这种情况还因“对接下来可能发生的事情”的不确定性而加剧，以及特朗普接下来的宣布可能对行业意味着什么。
That has been compounded by "uncertainty" over what may happen next, he said, and what the next Trump announcement might mean for the industry.
“这些事情会让你夜不能寐，”这位69岁的老人对BBC新闻说。
"Those are the things that keep you up at night," the 69-year-old told BBC News.
作为一位直言不讳的特朗普批评者，他在特朗普的任何一次白宫竞选中都没有投他的票，詹金斯知道自己在保守派邻居中是个异类。当特朗普首次当选时，詹金斯说他希望他能证明自己“是个务实的商人”。而现在，他说：“我认为他根本就不是务实的人。”
An outspoken Trump critic who didn't vote for the president during any of his White House bids, Jenkins knows he is an outlier among his conservative neighbours. When Trump was first elected, Jenkins said he hoped he would turn out "to be a practical business guy". Now, he said, "I think he's been anything but practical".
但对于许多支持特朗普的农民和牧场主来说，即使总统的决定在经济上打击了他们，也值得被给予信任的机会。
But for many Trump-supporting farmers and ranchers, the president's decisions - even when they hit them economically - deserve the benefit of the doubt.
“我们都了解特朗普这一点，”沃尔芬格说。“他就像有时会‘先开枪，后瞄准’一样。”但他说，“我希望你能，你知道的，把枪放回去，套上枪套，然后再想想。”不过他说：“我认为他总体上是在尽力把这个国家引向正确的方向”。
"We've all known this about Trump. He just kind of could be a little 'shoot, fire, aim,'" Wolfinger said. "I wish you could, you know, put the gun back and holster it and then think about it." But, he said, "I think he's, for the most part, trying to run this country in the right direction".
唐·坎特雷尔的祖父创办了如今扩展到12,000英亩的家族农场，他说他仍然受到柴油成本的冲击，并承认总统“做了一些愚蠢的事”并且“说了些愚蠢的话”。
Don Cantrell, whose grandfather started farming family land that now stretches to 12,000 acres, said he is still getting hit on diesel and admits the president "does some stupid things" and "says some stupid things".
但坎特雷尔认为特朗普是“有史以来最好的总统”。例如，他成立的政府效率部（DOGE）正是他觉得国家所需要的。
But Cantrell believes Trump has been the "best president overall". His establishment of DOGE - the Department of Government Efficiency - for example, was exactly what he felt the country needed.
“让我们削减政府浪费，”他说。“浪费太多了。”特朗普在社会问题上的立场——如反对堕胎和赞扬基督教——也与许多内布拉斯加选民的个人信念相一致。
"Let's cut government waste," he said. "There's so much waste." Trump also maintains stances on social issues - like abortion and praising Christianity - that align with many Nebraskan voters' personal convictions.
我认为，一般来说，如果你在这个国家是保守派，你就会投保守派的票，沃尔芬格尔说。
"I think, in general, if you're conservative in this country, you're going to vote conservative," Wolfinger said.
唐·巴蒂，67岁，表示赞同："除了农业之外，还有很多其他问题。"不过，他也说，经济现实很难被忽视。
Don Batie, 67, agrees: "There's a lot of other issues besides agriculture." Still, the economic realities are hard to ignore, he said.
巴蒂去年因个人和经济原因退出了农业。这位种植玉米和大豆的农民看着玉米价格从2022年初的每蒲式耳7美元跌到三年后的仅4.29美元。
Batie retired from farming last year for a combination of personal and economic reasons. The corn and soybean farmer watched as prices fell from $7 a bushel for corn in early 2022 to just $4.29 three years later.
但他说，成本并没有下降，关税和通胀正在侵蚀他的利润。因此，他不得不放弃将自己拥有的400英亩农场传给女儿的长期梦想。"现在根本行不通了，"他说，坐在他成长过程中所在的家里的餐桌旁。
But costs have not gone down, he said, with tariffs and inflation contributing to his bottom line. As a result, he has had to abandon his longtime dream of passing on the 400-acre farm he owns to his daughter. "It just wasn't going to work now," he said, sitting at the dining room table in the home he grew up in.
他只是在过去一年里，在核算数字后才得出这个结论。"我知道情况一直不好，"他说。"但当我开始处理这些数字时……我心想，‘这肯定会很糟。’”巴蒂在2016年投了特朗普一票，并在初选中再次支持他——但2024年没有投他，因为他对特朗普的政策感到失望。他说，他在全州都听到了类似的不满声音。"他们仍然是坚定的共和党人，"他说这些人。"但他们不再是特朗普的支持者了。"然而，在内布拉斯加州的各个角落，农业产业仍在坚持前行。
He only came to that realisation within the past year after crunching the numbers. "I knew things hadn't been good," he said. "But when I started working on the numbers… I was like, 'This is going to be bad.'" Batie voted for Trump in 2016 and again in the primary - but not in 2024, because he was disappointed with his policies. He said he had heard similar dissatisfaction throughout the state. "They're still strong Republicans," he said of those people." But they're not a Trump supporter anymore." All over Nebraska, however, the industry soldiers on.
在布罗肯博一个雨天的星期四，戴着牛仔帽、穿着格子衫和牛仔裤的买家们聚集在室内参加常规的牛拍卖会。
On a rainy Thursday in Broken Bow, buyers clad in cowboy hats, plaid shirts and denim gathered for the regular indoor cattle auction.
小牛仍然需要买卖，而牧场经营——很多是多代传承的——不会因政治而停歇。
Calves still need to be bought and sold, and ranch operations - many multi-generational - don not pause for politics.
穿过铁路轨道，经过饲料和五金店，伊薇特·曼农总结了内布拉斯加人的韧性和坚韧。"农业从业者是永恒的乐观主义者，"她说"否则我们根本不会进入这个行业。"
Across the train tracks, past feed and hardware stores, Yvette Mannon summed up Nebraskans' resilience and fortitude. "People in agriculture are eternal optimists," she said "Otherwise we wouldn't get in it."