American taxpayers are paying more than $1 billion per day for Operation Epic Fury. Military analysts, Pentagon estimates, and reports from NewsNation and CSIS confirm this figure. In just over a week of strikes, the total cost has already reached several billion dollars. This includes precision munitions, aircraft operations, interceptor missiles, and lost assets. If the conflict continues for a few weeks, the expense could easily reach $15 billion to $25 billion and keep rising.
Consider this question. What if even a small portion of that money had gone toward protecting U.S. farmers instead of funding strikes against a country that posed no imminent threat to the American homeland? U.S. intelligence assessments, separate from Israeli claims, support this view. The 2025 U.S. Intelligence Community report stated that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed there was no evidence of a structured weapons program. Pentagon briefings to Congress and analyses from the Arms Control Association experts made the same point. Iran had no ICBMs capable of reaching the United States in the near term, with projections pointing to 2035 at the earliest if development continued at all. No verified plans existed for direct attacks unless provoked. Despite these findings, the United States launched preemptive strikes and used regime-change rhetoric. The conflict has now disrupted global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
On American farms, the real crisis grows worse every day. U.S. farmers face another difficult growing season. Grain prices have risen temporarily due to the global uncertainty, but this offers little relief. Input costs are surging because of the war itself. Fertilizer prices have climbed sharply. Urea has jumped from around $516 to $683 per ton at major ports, and some reports show increases of $50 to $240 per ton in just days. Diesel prices have also risen significantly. Futures have reached multi-year highs as oil tankers and supply routes face disruption. Farmers in Iowa, Kansas, and the Midwest report they cannot even lock in prepaid fertilizer prices for spring planting, which begins in a matter of weeks. Some are reducing fertilizer applications, which will lead to lower yields later. Others are deciding to quit farming altogether. Farm sales are increasing, mental health challenges are growing, and many producers say they have reached their limit.
The war is making profitability harder to achieve. Tariffs have already reduced export markets. Congress has failed to pass a timely farm bill. The 2018 Farm Bill has been extended multiple times due to ongoing gridlock. The latest 2026 version remains stuck in debate. No comprehensive disaster aid package exists. Crop insurance reforms and meaningful relief for high input costs or trade impacts remain absent. Programs that could provide stability, such as direct support, conservation incentives, and risk management tools, stay in limbo while billions go overseas. The “bridge payments” are just a band-aid that will go straight to the input giants.
The numbers tell a clear story. A few weeks of the war’s daily spending could cover emergency agricultural relief in full. Funds could subsidize fertilizer and fuel to keep planting on schedule. They could extend and strengthen the farm bill with real support for producers. They could protect the agricultural system that keeps America fed and independent. Thousands of family farms could escape destitution. Consolidation into large corporate operations could slow. Investments could go to the sector that feeds the world.
Instead, the U.S. government has chosen foreign military action over support for its own producers. Farmers work on thin margins. They face extreme weather, trade disputes, and unpredictable policies. Now they bear the burden of rising diesel prices at the pump and spiking fertilizer costs at the co-op. Safety net programs in Washington remain delayed. The message from the capital is unmistakable. The struggles of American farmers rank lower in priority.
This is not true national security. It is a policy choice. That choice shows where priorities really stand. American agriculture is not mere collateral damage. It is being undermined while strikes continue abroad. If leaders can find endless billions (of taxpayer money) for conflict against a non-imminent threat, they can find the resources to protect the farms that sustain this country.
The war on Iran costs more than dollars. It threatens our future on the land, as well as our sons and daughters. The American people deserve better. The time has come to bring those resources home before another season of hardship becomes permanent.