Minnesota Farmers Union President Blasts Trump
Minnesota Farmers Union President: “At the beginning we spoke out that we supported the president looking at trade agreements. Maybe we can do things better, no disagreement with that at all…We’ve gone on for over a year. We’ve lost markets, we lost the China market.” pic.twitter.com/kBbgrHQqqS
— The Hill (@thehill) August 19, 2019
Iowas Farmers Accuse Trump of Breaking Promises
In Iowa, Angry Farmers Say Trump Broke Ethanol Promises.
Iowa farmers are pushing back after President Trump reneged on a promise to review a national program that gives waivers to small refineries that don’t add ethanol to their gasoline.
The president had promised corn farmers he would review the exemption program after a June trip to Iowa, but a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to issue new waivers to fuel producers signaled an end to the administration’s study.
But the decision creates tension between two groups Trump views as supporters and may threaten the patience of farmers who have already been hit hard by the tariffs of Trump’s trade war.
Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa) has requested an EPA Office of Inspector General investigation of the program and whether it violates renewable fuel laws, but at a press conference in Iowa on Wednesday, farmers directed their anger more at Trump than the EPA.
“Right now what we’re seeing from this administration is a dogged approach to allow the biggest fossil fuel players an opportunity to put more money in the back pockets of their large shareholders and take that money out of the pockets of hardworking farmers right here in Iowa,” she said.
Farmers Threaten USDA Staff
Reuters reports Farmer’s Threat Prompts U.S. Agriculture Department to Pull Staff from Crop Tour.
The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday it had pulled all staff from an annual crop tour after an employee was threatened, and three sources said the threat of violence was made during a phone call from an angry farmer.
Tour organizers said in a statement the threat was taken “very seriously.”
U.S. farmers have complained this month that a government crop report did not reflect damage from historic flooding this spring. They are also frustrated about unsold crops due to the trade war with China, falling farm income and tighter credit conditions.
Corn future prices posted their biggest drop in three years after the USDA estimated a bigger-than-expected crop on Aug. 12, despite floods that slowed planting. USDA’s reports have long been a key reference for global commodities markets.
James McCune, a farmer from Mineral, Illinois, who was not on the tour, said he understood the anger.
“Any farmer who talked to the USDA guy who made the crop report would probably say something derogatory to him,” McCune said. “I don’t know anybody that agreed with that stuff.”
The Trump administration has also been scrambling to stem rising anger over its decision this month to allow numerous oil refiners to mix less corn-based ethanol into their gasoline.
Debt Mounts
Finally, please consider the Average U.S. Farm Is $1,300,000 In Debt, And Now The Worst Farming Crisis In Modern History Is Upon Us
We haven’t seen anything like this since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Leading up to this year, farm incomes had been trending lower for most of the past decade, and meanwhile farm debt levels have been absolutely exploding. So U.S. farmers were desperate for a really good year, but instead 2019 has been a total disaster.
As a result, we are facing the worst farming crisis in modern American history, and this comes at a time when U.S. farms are drowning in more debt than ever before. In fact, the latest numbers that we have show that the average U.S. farm is 1.3 million dollars in debt.
If the horrific weather and endless flooding wasn’t enough, about a week ago the Chinese government announced that they would be ending all “purchases of U.S. agricultural products”, and that was a devastating blow for farmers all over the nation.
In particular, soybean farmers are going to see demand for their crops absolutely collapse. In recent years, China has purchased approximately 60 percent of all U.S. soybean exports.
And even if a trade deal is eventually reached, it is unlikely that all of that demand is ever going to come back. Right now, the Chinese are spending enormous amounts of money “to build transportation infrastructure to ship soybeans grown in what used to be rain forests” in Brazil. They aren’t going to abandon all of that just because Trump suddenly changes his mind.
This is not a pretty picture for US farmers.
There is no way for farmers to pay back the money they owe.
Farm bankruptcies are already on the rise. This year may break many of them.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
Farmers that voted for trump are getting exactly what they deserve. He’s doing what he said he was going to do. But that’s ok we the taxpayers will take care of your financial shortcomings. (Socialist welfare recipients) That evil Obama and his diabolical plan to take over the whole world with the Trans-Pacific Partnership and his (and 90 some-odd % of scientists) climate change craziness. That nutso Muslim was out to get you. Now you have “the chosen one” that lost all his daddies money due to his 4-5 bankruptcies, one of which was the “biggest in US history” and made a comeback taking money from god only knows who, because no bank in the United States would lend to him. That’s the guy I want running my country. And the Truckers that voted for him, bahahaha! Got you too with that little per diem screwing, huh? Maybe next time do a little research before you cast your votes….morons.
At least we didn’t get Clinton with her degenerative brain disease, right Sherlock, I mean Shedlock?
“So much winning! Farmers already get massive handouts and subsidies. The American mythology of Ma and Pa struggling on the tiny family farm is bullshit. Farmers are rich and/or corporate.”
I agree 100% with Expat and never implied otherwise. I merely pointed out the whining.
I would end all crop subsidies and ethanol support if it was up to me.
So much winning! Farmers already get massive handouts and subsidies. The American mythology of Ma and Pa struggling on the tiny family farm is bullshit. Farmers are rich and/or corporate.
But hey, this is what American capitalism is all about: making sure rich people don’t get hurt.
“So much winning! Farmers already get massive handouts and subsidies. The American mythology of Ma and Pa struggling on the tiny family farm is bullshit. Farmers are rich and/or corporate.”
I agree 100% with Expat and never implied otherwise. I merely pointed out the whining.
I would end all crop subsidies and ethanol support if it was up to me.
I read somewhere that engines running on ethanol-mix don’t last as long as those burning regular gasoline without ethanol. Any truth in that?
Yes. Which is why many places have signs saying “100% gasoline” or “no ethanol”.
Truthfully if Trump would have let alone the trade issue economic growth would have been higher still. As it stands jobs numbers are being revised down. Trump screwed his own reelection chances by messing with trade agreements. States that were red are now turning into the tossup category.
“Truthfully if Trump would have let alone the trade issue economic growth would have been higher still.”
Correct, but Trump wasn’t hired to “let things alone”. He was hired, in part, to bring back manufacturing jobs for US citizens. Sure, he could have got into office and said “F-it! Time to resume the status quo.” Then skip off to Europe, glad-hand all the socialist leaders and curtsy to all the other world leaders – like the last one(s) did. Rather, he’s trying to re-shape the economy so that economic growth is experienced by the middle class through productive work instead of through the expansion of debt. He’s doing it at the risk of losing his job. Good for him!
Well it’s possible to renegotiate trade agreements without tariffs. The chosen one didnt understand this. He could have had the best of both worlds.
If it’s possible to do this without using tariffs then why didn’t anyone do it before? Or did they try and fail?
Do what exactly ? If Trump truly meant business about China he would threaten to throw them out of the WTO. Trump is just another politician nibbling at the edges. People like me voted for him to get tougher on China. Trump is actually the worst of all worlds. He puts some tariffs on which destroy parts of trade for American citizens, slows the economy, gives handouts (socialism) to affected farmers and then keeps deferring the tariffs and cracking down on a company like Huawei (a Chinese government corporation). This is why I said he could have not done any of this and come out ahead. If you are going to be serious about China, you need to start with throwing them out of the WTO due to trade and intellectual property theft. China is still playing the American President like a fiddle.
By the way politically, it would have been a shrewd move to throw China out of the WTO. He would have had the backing of the industrial midwest and farmers for longer. Trump could have sent a message and told America that we need to be self sufficient for national security reasons. Any democrat would have no counter to that.
To answer your question, no one even tried tariffs recently. The most that was ever done was to file a trade complaint at the WTO. China called Trump’s bluff(s) and now he has lost whatever leverage he had. China would have been more hurt by following through on an adviser’s threat to kick them out of the WTO.
Except those jobs aren’t coming back. Trump will end up tariffing everyone, including our allies, chasing jobs that are never coming back instead of investing in new skill development.
“By the way politically, it would have been a shrewd move to throw China out of the WTO. “
It was a US decision to allow China into the WTO but it is not a US choice to throw China out.
But they would have surely had support if it was framed right.
“There is no way for farmers to pay back the money they owe.”
…
When times are good … farmers can’t resist getting a new combine … at $250K to $500K.
Sonny Purdue (Sec of Ag): “What do you call two farmers in a basement? A whine cellar”
Told at FarmFest in Minnesota a week or so ago.
The farmers and The Chosen One deserve each other!
More doom and gloom. Mish must be a very depressing person to be around!
And yet again…
“A survey conducted by Iowa State University has found that farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois support President Trump’s tariffs against China. According to the study, nearly 60-percent of respondents in those states expressed support for the ongoing trade war, while 14-percent had neutral feelings on the matter.”
because farmers didn’t vote trump because of economic reasons. They voted trump because of cultural grievances. They could all go bankrupt and they’d still vote trump because he says insulting things about “urban elites” and hurts refugees.
And yet (far left source)…
“Yet the farmers—who will play a key role in the 2020 presidential race in Iowa—didn’t talk much about politics until I asked them, and even then, some were reticent. Despite escalating tensions with China in a trade war that directly affects United States agriculture, the farmers I spoke to said they were unconcerned that China may cut off US imports and confident that President Donald Trump has their best interests in mind.”
Wow, I guess the TDS comes full circle with this one, now quoting far left sources that are supposed to be all lies. I guess when you’re grasping at straws you’ll find anyone who slightly agrees with you. The strange thing about the TDS with this one is that he’s almost incapable of saying anything negative about his dear leader – at least Mish will comment positively about dear leader if he agrees with what he’s doing. So, TDS extraordinaire, can you say anything that dear leader Trump has done that you think is stupid? Don’t worry, big daddy isn’t watching here. I think it will be therapeutic for you as well.
And yet…
“In other words, “When will the dumb Trump-supporting farmers realize that they have been conned?” You can rest assured that this narrative will once again surface before 2020’s election. Except that none of it is true. American farmers are certainly hurting, but little of this is due to the trade war. The media is trying to take advantage of American farmers’ pain for political purposes.”
did you not read the quotes? 60% of the soybean crop goes to China. 60% of soybean sales have just evaporated as a direct result of trumps foolishness.
did you not read the quotes in the title of the Mish article?
“Increasingly Angry Farmers Blame Trump, Not China”
Wonder if this has anything to do with the fires in Brazil. Creating more farmland for the Chinese.
Of course it has. The Chinese couldn’t give a rats azz if they lay waste to the entire planet in pursuit of what they want.
What happens if farmers and millenials embrace socialism as a solution to unpayable debts?
If they worship Trump as their God then they should be willing to take any amount of pain and die for him. Trump expects no less from his cult members. After all, it’s not about them, it’s about him and his glory.
Brilliantly stated for a liberal moron. Try saying something other than what your TDS deranged cortex spews out. Geez more useless idiotic bloviating and ranting get a life. Most people who voted for probably don’t like him but rather have him or the communists on the other side.
PRIJECTION
I know it’s easy to live in an echo chamber, another perspective for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH5QzuzD01A&t=1417s
The last article is from the website “endoftheamericandream.com”. You can do better than this.
My understanding is that adding ethanol in gas is cost ineffective and fuel savings ineffective. It increased the cost of anything corn based also such as feed and corn syrup based sweeteners etc. This mandate was another govt. engineered giveaway to the farm lobby at the expense of the taxpayers. I believe Bush was the one who started this fiasco.
Spot On.
Farm subsidies started during The Depression and deemed “temporary”. We can see how that worked out. How did this come about? Politics, of course. Iowa has fought tooth and nail to be first primary in POTUS race. So, any candidate running for POTUS has to schlep to Iowa and kowtow to the farmers. And the only thing they care about is making sure candidates keep the farm subsidy river flowing out of DC.
Well, ethanol is a travesty, so is corn syrup, by the way, but that doesn’t diminish in any way that Trump is not keeping his promises nor serving his base. Policy should change, but in a transparent way within the framework of legislation.
What are farmers complaining about they got $28 billion in help, oh wait that almost all went to big agra, and not to the normal farmers. How could that happen…really I suspect that Trump did what he always preached, looked after his buddies the real winners after all (hey sure they need $28 billion but really it’s not their fault).
It will get worse, because once the Chinese move to other producers (Argentina and Brazil for example) it will be hard to get them back.
The consequence of trade war are always difficult to judge, but that, that was a sure thing!
If they don’t like the USDA report why don’t they fund their own? Oh because the USDA tells everyone what they want to hear. Unless they don’t, then it’s all Trump’s fault.
Maybe it’s not Trump’s fault. Maybe this stuff has been happening all along but now that the evil incompetent orange man is in charge the true nature of the bureaucracy is now news. Where was the press for the last 100 years?
Exactly.
Michael Dukakis had a point when he suggested struggling farmers grow something people were willing to pay serious money for, like Belgian Endive.
I find it hard to sypathise with people who are being put out of business by Big Agra and mistakenly trying to pin the blame on tariffs.
I find it easy to sympathize. Farming is more than a business, and when all the farms are gone and there is only agribusinesses with third world illegals to work there, it will be a different country, uglier and less hospitable and far less resilient.
Moreover, it is government tax policies/deductions and subsidies and rules that favor agribusiness in the “market” .
Believe it or not, I agree with you; my point would be that Tariffs are hardly the problem that regulatory capture by Big Ag is creating in myriad ways, some of which you cite. To survive in our current political environment though, small farmers need to differentiate and stop trying to compete with Big Ag.
US farmers want too much money. Like manufacturing, we should move all of our food production to 3rd world countries. Lower prices will make us all richer.
As in all else US, it’s not so much that farmers, as in the guys doing any actual farming, want too much money; as it is that for every penny paid to someone who actually farms, the US now has an army of leeches collecting rent, interest, living off of unionized regulator jobs, weaseling around with FIRE nonsense and “law” etc., etc…… Using the cover of totalitarian government to leech off the value created by the activity of farming itself.
Wipe those expendables off the face of the earth, or better yet, repurpose them for something at least not straight up value destroying; and farming, like most else, could be done both competitively and renumeratively for those involved in the US. Something feeding idle leeches, and mandating pointless makework, never can in the long run.