During a campaign rally town hall in Flint, Michigan on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump was cheered when he talked about helping American farmers after being asked about high grocery prices.

“We gotta work with our farmers. Our farmers are being decimated right now,” said Trump. “One of the reasons is we allow a lot of farm product into our country. We’re gonna have to be a little bit like other countries. We’re not gonna allow so much come. We’re gonna let our farmers go to work … I love the farmers.”

Farm income is estimated to be nearly $40 billion lower this year compared to 2023, down more than 25% due to lower prices paid to farmers for crops and livestock, and increased costs for supplies.

Trump, who had frequent meetings with farmers while president, talked about one farmer who told him they didn’t want any subsidies from the government. “It was amazing, he said, almost tears in his eyes. We don’t want a subsidy. We just want a fair level playing field….All he wanted was to be able to compete fairly.”

The former president recently participated in a written questionnaire from American Farm Bureau that covered topics such as crop insurance, taxes, labor, regulatory reform, international trade, sustainability, energy, and biotechnology.