SOURCE: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 8/8/18

Farmers for Free Trade, the association that's railing against President Donald Trump's tariffs, is ramping up an advertising campaign highlighting the harm that the escalating trade war is having on the U.S. agriculture industry. The new effort involves $800,000 in radio, print, online and television ads on farm programming across the heartland. Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin will see the first round of ads.

The "Tariffs Hurt the Heartland" campaign will also include town hall events in various states. Two radio ads (here and here) will start airing today and run through September. The ad buy is part of a larger $2.5 million national anti-tariff campaign the group launched in July, shortly after Trump announced a $12 billion aid program to farmers affected by trade retaliation in response to new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as trade penalties directed toward China.

"We are taking the message that tariffs hurt ag directly to farmers at their breakfast tables, on their combines, and in the farm news outlets they check every single day," Sara Lilygren, Farmers for Free Trade board president, said in a statement.

Survey finds Trump support slipping: The campaign comes as the president appears to be losing some of his support among producers, according to a new report by Farm Futures. The farm publication surveyed 924 growers online between July 20 and Aug. 2 in the wake of new tariffs on major trading partners and the retaliatory tariffs that followed.

Nearly two-thirds said they would vote for Trump again if the election were held today — but that's down significantly from the 75 percent of growers who said in November 2016 that they voted for him. Pro Ag's Helena Bottemiller Evich has more on the findings.

More U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports readied: Nevertheless, the Trump administration is pressing on with its trade strategy. On Tuesday, officials finalized a list of roughly $16 billion in goods from China that will begin facing a 25 percent tariff on Aug. 23.

The list comes on top of penalties on roughly $34 billion in Chinese goods, which took effect in July as a result of an investigation that pointed the finger at Beijing for its intellectual property practices and forced technology transfers.