Battling rain and cold, crumbling trade talks with China, and slumping commodity markets, northern Iowa farmer Brent Renner says it’s a struggle to feel…
Battling rain and cold, crumbling trade talks with China, and slumping commodity markets, northern Iowa farmer Brent Renner says it’s a struggle to feel optimistic about the corn and soybeans he’s planting.
«It’s a physical and mental challenge,» said Renner, a 43-year-old who farms near Klemme, a town of about 500 people west of Clear Lake.
«A lot of us think it can’t get any worse, that it can only go up from here. But that’s probably not a safe bet,» he said.
Prospects for improved prices are dimming, experts say, with record supplies, disease sweeping through China’s pig herd cutting soy demand, and hope for a new U. S.-China trade deal slipping away.
Early Friday, President Donald Trump pushed tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion in Chinese goods.
And the president is threatening to slap tariffs on another $325 billion in Chinese imports, covering everything China sells the United States.
«Farmers, particularly soybean farmers, have been the tip of the spear when it comes to Chinese retaliation, and I’m not sure they can take much more,» said Kirk Leeds, CEO of the Iowa Soybean Association.
Escalating tariffs «undercut any remnants of optimism,» Leeds said. «That’s what’s most devastating about this.»
«There are some marketers who believe we could see $6 soybeans,» he said, adding that he hopes prices don’t sink that far.
Soybeans for May delivery were trading around $8 per bushel on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Friday.
Negotiations continue with China, but the country says it will retaliate, matching U. S. tariffs.
President Donald Trump tweeted Friday morning that U. S. farmers would be better off, with the government possibly buying $15 billion in goods to provide humanitarian assistance to needy countries.
China bought nearly $24 billion in U. S. farm goods in 2017, including $14 billion in soybean purchases. Last year, China’s total farm purchases dropped to about $9.2 billion.
U. S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in Iowa last month that the government had no plans to provide another round of assistance to farmers.
