agricultural exports
Big corn and soybean inventories add to sour farm economy
Already-bulging U.S. corn and soybean stockpiles are much larger than expected, said a USDA report, compounding the effects of a trade war and bumper crops on the farm economy. Farm income this year is forecast to be the lowest since 2006.
Trade talks with Japan are a chance to catch up, say farm groups
Three groups that promote U.S. farm exports say the upcoming U.S.-Japan trade talks are a chance to gain ground against Australia, Canada, and the EU, which will benefit from free trade agreements with Japan.
Farm bill, just another in a roster of disappointments?
Senate and House negotiators tacitly acknowledged on Wednesday that the 2018 farm bill will be late, due to intractable disagreements. The delay could add the bill to a growing list of agricultural disappointments.
NAFTA’s influence on Mexico: an interview with Alyshia Gálvez
Much of the domestic discussion of NAFTA’s effects have centered on American workers, eaters, and growers. But the deal has had just as large an impact on Mexico’s economy, workforce, and agriculture. In Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies, and the Destruction of Mexico, Alyshia Gálvez writes of how Mexico has been affected by the trade deal, and what possibilities for better deal-making could emerge if we took seriously the concerns of that country’s workers, eaters, and growers.
Farm state senators say TPP could be part of a trade war cure for ag
Three Republican senators said on Thursday that re-entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership could speed up the process of finding alternative markets for farm exports now that China has closed its door to them.
USDA explains how it divided $4.7 billion for growers
When it decides whether to make a second round of Trump tariff payments, the USDA said on Thursday, it will consider changes in tariffs, commodity prices, and other market conditions since it announced that $4.7 billion would be split among the producers of seven commodities this fall.
Administration optimistic on Canada, less so on China, say ag leaders
On Wednesday, three state Farm Bureau presidents told administration leaders, including President Trump, that farmers, hit hard by retaliatory tariffs, need open markets soon. “There’s a fairly short runway,” said South Dakota’s Scott VanderWal.
Trade war ends China’s role as top U.S. ag export customer
Canada, runner-up for most of this decade, has replaced China as the top market for U.S. farm exports because of the high tariffs that have discouraged sales in the Sino-U.S. trade war, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. China will finish this year as the No. 3 customer for U.S. ag exports, behind Mexico.
Midwest scores big on Trump tariff payments; decision on second round in early December
Nearly half of the $4.7 billion in Trump tariff payments will go to five midwestern states that are the largest soybean and hog producers in the country, said a farm group analysis on Tuesday. At the same time, an environmental group challenged the USDA to explain its opaque development of the bailout package.
Trump’s farmer bailout: half now, the rest later … maybe
President Trump's promise to protect U.S. agriculture from retaliatory tariffs by China and other countries will be paid on the installment plan — half this fall and the rest in December, or early 2018 if assistance is still needed, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday. The USDA announced $6.2 billion in outlays that will begin in September, with soybean growers in line for $3.6 billion of it.
Bilateral is good, trilateral is better in NAFTA talks, say farm groups
President Trump dangled the possibility of terminating NAFTA, which generates one-third of U.S. food and ag trade, at the same time he announced a tentative trade agreement with Mexico on Monday. Farm groups said NAFTA should stay in effect until a new agreement linking North America's three economic giants is in place.
Trump tariff bailout may be sunlight ahead of storm clouds over farm sector
Crop and livestock producers are likely to learn on Monday how the Trump administration will allocate up to $12 billion in aid to offset the impact of retaliatory Chinese tariffs on the U.S. farm sector, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
What’s red and white and not delicious all over?
This year, after more than half a century as America’s favorite, the Red Delicious apple will be surpassed by the Gala as the No. 1 apple grown in the United States, said the trade group USApple on Thursday.
Will soybean growers get the lion’s share of Trump tariff payments?
Soybeans are the largest U.S. farm export to China, and growers of the oilseed may be in line for huge federal payments, worth an average of $85 an acre, to offset the impact of retaliatory Chinese tariffs. Corn growers, meanwhile, might not get enough per acre to buy a cup of coffee at many restaurants.
New buyers elusive, U.S. builds a mountain of soybeans
U.S. farmers will reap a record-large soybean crop in the middle of a trade war with China, ordinarily the No. 1 export customer for the most widely grown U.S. crop, with no replacement buyer on the horizon. As a result, said the USDA, farmers can expect the lowest season-average price for soybeans in 12 years and the largest soybean stockpile ever, which likely will hold down prices in the future.
How much U.S. aid for soybean growers?
The Trump administration could pay substantial amounts to soybean growers under its $12-billion plan to shield U.S. agriculture from harm in the tariff war with China, said the head of a University of Missouri think tank on Thursday.
Disruption in U.S. cotton and soy exports loom due to trade war
One of the world's largest grain companies warned of a "skinny export season" for U.S. soybeans and an intergovernmental body said the United States might need to seek new markets for its cotton due to President Trump's trade war with China. Meanwhile, the Trump administration threatened on Wednesday to put 25-percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports as leverage for reform.