President Donald Trump says he’s planning a $10 billion aid package for U.S. soybean farmers so they can weather the season without business from China — America’s biggest soybean buyer.
Soybeans make up a quarter of Minnesota’s exports, which equates to about $2 billion in annual sales, according to the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association. Farmers across the country are still recovering from reputational harm after the 2018 trade war with China.
Minnesota Farm Bureau President Dan Glessing recently returned from a trade trip to Italy. He has also been making the rounds in Washington, D.C., speaking with Minnesota’s congressional delegation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the White House as the fall harvest gets underway.
Glessing talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about trade, tariffs and ripple effects of the government shutdown on Minnesota agriculture.
The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Listen to the conversation by clicking the player button above.
Many farmers voted for Trump. What are they saying about present hardships amid Trump’s trade war with China?
[We] certainly have concerns with the tariffs. Having said that, we're coming up on about three years of negative profitability. If you look about a year ago, prices are similar; they're still not at a profitable range. China, a major market, was our number one buyer of soybeans, and they have not bought a single soybean yet.
As we were at this conference, the foreign farmers were asking us what we think about the tariffs, or what strategy they should emphasize with their trade negotiators, and ours is, “Get to the table.” That's what President Trump would like to get out of these tariffs. So if they want free and fair trade and complementary trade, get to the table. Get to the negotiations, and let's get something done so that we can see some purchases.
Whether soybeans or other products, we have a lot of products that we grow here safely. It's a safe food supply for other countries. And if we lose that, we're really going to be in a world of hurt.
You say farmers want fair trade. If soybean orders aren’t there, do you need some kind of safety net?
If we could focus on getting the Farm Bill completed — there were certain provisions within the reconciliation bill that passed here this summer — but there are other avenues within that Farm Bill realm that could help. But there are some non-tariff barriers that we talk about as well, like sanitary situations that other countries don't recognize within our products. But all in all, we really need to emphasize the negotiations. Let's get some signed trade deals. Obviously, there's been some outlines of trade deals, but we're really looking for pen to paper so that these trade deals can go forward.
Negotiations on the federal Farm Bill have languished. Are there other, lesser-known parts of the government shutdown affecting farmers?
Well, when you think of everything that we're working on as an organization and passing good pieces of legislation, that all comes through the Farm Service Agency or the Natural Resource Conservation Center. We're in a busy time of year here. Harvest is going on, and so if that shutdown affects those offices’ staffing or being open, we rely on them as a partner in our operations to carry out the good things that Congress does for farmers and ranchers in rural Minnesota.
Farm Bureau members are faced with a lot of uncertainty amid the harvest. What are you telling them? Do you foresee some going under?
I think there's a potential for that. It’s been three years since we've really had a market for the row crops specifically. Visiting with the [European Union] farmers, beef seems to be the shining light, and hogs are kind of in an OK place right now. But when you look at row crops, dairy, other avenues, those have really been concerning for the last three to four years, and so it depends on how much equity farmers have left.
Obviously, you're burning equity every year that you're operating at a loss. Older farmers have a little more equity to burn, but it depends on how close to retirement you are and how much you want to give up with the uncertainty that exists. And younger farmers don't have that equity. Even if you've been operating for 10 years, it's hard to build equity. It depends on how much you're going to lose. Each situation is going to be different, but I do foresee, if we don't get some certainty, there could be some potential for some sellouts.
Are you expecting an announcement soon from the President about this significant aid package?
Yes, I would think so. I would think in the next couple of weeks, we'd hear something, but recognize that's a Band-Aid. That's not fixing the situation that has happened over the last several years. And farmers know that markets ebb and flow, but really trying to find some certainty and optimism would really help with the attitude of the farmers out in the countryside.