5 years, 9 months ago AFBF
The U.S. plans to implement more tariffs on China as part of an ongoing trade war between the two countries. In a statement released this week, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says he was ordered by President Trump to begin the process of imposing tariffs of ten percent on an additional $200 billion of Chinese imports. The tariffs will follow the 25 percent tariffs implemented last week on approximately $34 billion worth of Chinese imports and will eventually cover up to $50 billion in Chinese imports. The latest action from the Trump administration was attributed to China’s retaliation of imposing tariffs on $34 billion in U.S. exports to China, and threatening tariffs on another $16 billion. Lighthizer claims China retaliated “without any international legal basis or justification.” An administration official told reporters this week the administration would “listen to farmers complaints” at a hearing next month on the tariffs, but added that farmers are “aware Trump’s trade initiatives would help them in the long run.”
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EU Trade Chief: Targeting U.S. Ag in Tariffs Best Hope for Trade Change
In retaliating against trade tariffs, the European Union is doubling down on American Whiskey. EU trade chief Cecilia Malmström shut down a request to remove U.S. whiskey from the tariff list as fear the move would place further retaliation from the U.S. on Scotch whiskey. In making the statement, Politico reports Malmström intends to hit the U.S. "where it hurts," which includes agriculture. The trade official says the list created by the EU was "drafted on the basis of several parameters, including its capacity to induce policy change in the United States.” Malmström says its “well known” that the U.S. agriculture sector is one of the “few groups with political clout to bring about change in Washington,” adding “it’s no coincidence” that the EU, Mexico and Canada are targeting U.S. agriculture products in retaliation to the Trump steel and aluminum tariffs.
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USDA Stops Allowing Select Media to Pre-analyze Crop, Livestock Reports
The Department of Agriculture will end its "lockup" procedures for select media that allows reporters early access to crop and livestock reports. The organizations previously allowed to analyze reports starting 90 minutes before public release will now gain access to the reports at the same time they are released to the public, ending a century-old policy. The change will start next month. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says USDA is making the change to address the head start of a "few microseconds that can amount to a market advantage." USDA says the evidence suggests there is significant trading activity worth millions of dollars that occurs in the one to two second period immediately following the 12:00 p.m. report release time, which “could not be based on the public reading of USDA data.” USDA says the inference is that private agents are paying the news agencies for faster data transmission to get a jump on the market. The news agencies involved include the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Thompson Reuters, Market News International, Bloomberg News and DTN/Progressive Farmer.
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Tractor, Combine Sales Increase in June
Tractor and combine sales increased in June. A monthly report by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers shows the sale of all tractors in the U.S. in June were up 12 percent compared to the same month last year. For the six months in 2018, a total of 123,300 tractors were sold which compares to 115,700 sold thru June 2017, representing a seven percent increase for the year. For the month, two-wheel drive smaller tractors under 40 horsepower were up 15 percent from last year, while 40 and under 100 horsepower tractor sales were up four percent. Meanwhile, sales of two-wheel drive 100-plus horsepower tractors were up 16 percent, while four-wheel drive tractors were up 23 percent. Combine sales were up four percent for the month. Sales of combines for the year total 2,011 compared to 1,669 in 2017, a 21 percent increase.
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Ohio Executive Order Seeks Changes to Farm Practices to Slow Algae Blooms
Ohio Governor John Kasich signed an executive order signaling a more aggressive approach to stopping algae blooms in the Great Lakes. The blooms can taint drinking water, kill fish and prompt beach closures. Most notably, algae blooms contaminated tap water in 2014 for two days, affecting more than 400,000 people in Toledo, Ohio. The executive order calls for issuing “distressed watershed" designations for eight creeks and rivers in northwestern Ohio that the order says are the source for large amounts of phosphorus-rich fertilizer and manure. The designations, according to the Associated Press, would require farmers to evaluate their land and change farming practices. If approved by the Ohio Soil and Water Commission, the proposed designations would affect nearly two million acres and an estimated 7,000 farms.
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Lawsuit Alleges Seed Company Intentionally Sold Subpar Products to Black Farmers
A group of Mid-South farmers claims Stine Seed Company purposefully switched seeds to sell black farmers a subpar product last year. The Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association alleges a distributor switched out certified seed for lesser quality soybean seeds, and that despite above average rainfall, the farmers saw limited soybean yield from the seeds during the 2017 harvest. The seeds were analyzed at Mississippi State University which says tests show the products were not certified Stine seeds. The class action lawsuit was filed earlier this year. The lawsuit is the latest action by the association, which also has represented some of the African-American farmers claiming widespread discriminatory practices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The group said this week that the number of black farmers has decreased from nearly one million in 1920 to 5,000 today largely due to “systemic racism” by the U.S. government and now seed companies. In a statement to the Des Moines Register, the Iowa-based Stine Seed Company called the lawsuit "without merit and factually unsupportable,” adding an internal investigation has “not revealed any evidence” supporting the allegations.
