Chris Johnson knows all too well how a promising crop can suddenly be ruined — by poor weather, an economic downturn or bad luck. This…
Chris Johnson knows all too well how a promising crop can suddenly be ruined — by poor weather, an economic downturn or bad luck.
This year, he and other soybean farmers in North Dakota are contending with something less common but potentially just as destructive: A trade war between the United States and China that’s already driven down the price of soybeans sharply.
«Oh, it’s a devastating loss. Soybeans are my largest acreage crop,» says Johnson, who farms 3,300 acres in Great Bend, in the southern part of the state.
He’s seen soybean prices fall by more than 20 percent. «On my farm, that’s close to $150,000 that we have to make up,» he says.
Johnson was among thousands who attended this year’s Big Iron Farm Show in a fairground in West Fargo, an annual gathering for farmers to hear about developments in agriculture and check out the latest in threshers, combines and other equipment.
This year, much of the discussion centered on the Trump administration’s decision to slap tariffs on Chinese imports and the subsequent retaliation by Beijing, which has essentially ceased buying soybeans and other products just as the harvest is coming in.
Prices for soybeans, the state’s leading crop, quickly tumbled and haven’t recovered.
«We are now on the brink of a crisis in farm country that is completely policy-driven,» said Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who spoke to farmers Tuesday.
«It’s not being driven by weather. It’s not being driven by bad farmers…. We’re struggling because we’re getting bad policies,» said Heitkamp, who’s locked in a tough re-election battle against Republican Rep.
