Farm & Food File
A syndicated column by Alan Guebert
Special Interests
Another War That Won’t End Any Wars
Posted on December 5, 2018
November 11 marked 100 years since the end of World War I, which U.S. President Woodrow Wilson called “the war to end all wars.”
Wilson saw himself as a historic peacemaker; instead he became an ironic phrasemaker. The Great War never brought an end to war, or even an end to that war. The then-raging Russian […]
Sonny Warned ‘Em–Twice, In Fact
Posted on November 29, 2018
It’s Thanksgiving week, so let’s be generous: The White House trade policy, marked by its heavy use of import tariffs and presidential tweets, continues to confound economists and trading partners alike.
A more accurate, less generous view of President Donald J. Trump’s trade policy would declare it an unhinged mess that has led to a dark, […]
House GOP Could Claim Farm Bill Victory in Midst of Defeat
Posted on November 20, 2018
A week before American voters decided whether the mid-term elections would deliver a red wave or a blue wave, OpenSecrets.org, the non-partisan group that tracks money in politics, made a spot-on prediction: the biggest wave on Nov. 6 would be green.
Greenbacks, that is, because this year’s political candidates, OpenSecrets estimated, would spend $5.2 billion on […]
The Road to Perdition Always Leads South
Posted on November 7, 2018
If war is hell, then trade wars must be a purgatorial stop along the way. For proof, just look where Election Day 2018 finds American farmers.
Faced with ample production, stale commodity prices, and the lowest forecasted national farm income since 2002, U.S. farmers are now waiting for a winter of government “tariff mitigation” payments while […]
High Stakes and Bad Bets
Posted on October 17, 2018
On Oct. 1, U.S. farmers and ranchers joined President Donald J. Trump to praise one of his Administration’s biggest international achievements, a reworked trade deal between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
Ironically, however, Oct. 1 also brought a massive domestic failure: the expiration of the 2014 Farm Bill. The president and his revelers, however, never mentioned […]
Sometimes You Get What You Vote For
Posted on October 17, 2018
Farmers and ranchers spent most of last month hoping the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recent crop estimates would be proven wrong and President Donald J. Trump’s “plan” to fix “the world’s worst trade deals ever” would be proven right.
September, however, disappointed them on both counts.
On Sept. 12, USDA reported that the already big 2018 […]
September Slips Away and So Do Solutions
Posted on September 27, 2018
There are never enough days in September for farmers, ranchers, and pennant-chasing baseball teams. Every day, whether spent in a combine, pasture or batter’s box, brings change to what’s real today and what’s possible tomorrow.
And it happens fast; September days don’t pass, they evaporate.
Congress, however, seems not to notice days, months or even possibilities. It […]
‘A Fool’s Errand for U.S. Policymakers’
Posted on September 19, 2018
While U.S. farmers and ranchers spent August fretting over escalating tariffs and retreating markets, two ag policy experts used the month to publish a series of five columns that artfully—and courageously—skinned most of agriculture’s sacred cows even as they planted new policy ideas for farm and ranch success.
(All five columns are posted at www.agpolicy.org/articles18.htm under […]
The Carrot, The Stick, and You
Posted on September 14, 2018
The Trump Administration’s good cop/bad cop approach to U.S. trade policy was on full display Aug. 27 when President Donald J. Trump, the bad cop that day, announced a very incomplete NAFTA trade deal—fueled by his heavy use of tariffs—that pointedly excluded Canada.
(NAFTA, or Nafta, is the North American Free Trade Agreement now under renegotiation […]
The People’s Department–For the Time Being
Posted on September 14, 2018
An early hallmark of the Trump Administration’s management of American farm policy is its uncanny ability to pick fights that are as costly to win as they are to lose.
For example, even if the President’s import tariff plans succeed, how many ag exports will American farmers lose before the White House declares victory and moves […]
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Only read this eye-opening analysis of our *new* national trade tactics if your current and future business model, like most of US ag, is trade dependent. Otherwise, all good... right? https://t.co/LHDRhLS5VT
Sure. There are 2 entities in the grocery food chain: Walmart and everyone else. In ‘19 it sold $184B in groceries at 4700 US stores by underbidding competitors, suppliers, and employees. Now it’s doing the same w/ farmers. You connect the dots from here. https://t.co/yXLxKaV05P
Great read, important insight that confirms world’s distrustful view of WH trade strategy: The real negotiation begins after a deal is signed. Just ask Canada & Mexico. https://t.co/CVvrc4MWsk
Hey, @JDScholten, as we say in Illinois farm country, the only thing green at Dollar General is our money. https://t.co/ubrDMqurGi
Great year-ending read on actual cost global ag subsidies. https://t.co/6A66prGukj