“The Jobs Are Gone” March 2018
The big headlines about tariffs cause everyone in agri-business to fear that foreign countries who buy so much of American ag production will impose tariffs on us in retaliation.
Trent is concerned about corn and soybean prices being driven lower by the impact of foreign tariffs on U.S. export sales. “After all,” Trent says, “the jobs are gone already and tariffs won’t bring them back.” Trent hopes there is not a repeat of the notorious Carter grain embargo of the late 1970s which drove so much soybean production to South America.
Trent watches the weather as the planting season approaches. “It’s still a little dry,” Trent commented. The recent heavy rains did raise surface soil moisture, but Trent doesn’t think the abnormally dry conditions of the early winter have been eliminated yet. Trent thinks it’s not too wet to plant right now, “but we still have April coming.” Trent noted that the spring season “seems a little early” this year.
More from The Field Report
It Was A Good Year
Trent Brandenburg has completed his harvest. His 2022 corn and soybean crops are "in the bin". Asked how he would rate the crop year, Trent thought a bit and said, "It was a good year." Trent has concerns during the [...]
Soybeans are Done with Just One-Third Of Corn To Go
Trent Brandenburg is done with his soybean harvest. Most of his bean fields averaged in the seventy-bushels-per-acre range, with one in the eighties. "Not as good as last year," Trent observed, "but at fourteen dollars a bushel, that's a lot [...]
Soybean Harvest Begins In Two Days, Maybe…
Trent Brandenburg expects to begin his soybean harvest in two days "if it doesn't rain," he predicted on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. His corn harvest will begin when the kernel moisture content drops, either from drying in the field or [...]