Chickpea farmers suffering 'a real catastrophe' after Trump's trade war tanks prices more than half

[workinclasszero]

Chickpea farmers suffering ‘a real catastrophe’ after Trump’s trade war tanks prices by more than half

BRAD REED 31 DEC 2018 AT 10:22 ET

With no end to President Donald Trump’s trade war in sight, many chickpea farmers are bracing for tough financial times ahead in the coming year.

NPR reports that many chickpea farmers in the Pacific Northwest have a huge percentage of their crops sealed away in storage with little hope of finding buyers anytime soon.

“30 to 40 percent of our total revenue is in the bin,” chickpea farmer Allen Druffel tells NPR. “And we’re not sure what we want to do with it.”

Druffel says the timing of the trade war couldn’t have been worse, as he’d had one of his best crops ever, only to see prices for chickpeas plummet from 50 cents a pound in February to just 18 cents a pound in December.

Tim McGreevy, the head of the American Pulse Association that represents farmers who grow pulse crops such as chickpeas and lentils, tells NPR that his farmers have lost an estimated $500 million in potential revenue thanks to Trump’s trade war.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/chickpea-farmers-suffering-real-catastrophe-trumps-trade-war-tanks-prices-half/

[safeinOhio]

1. Has hummus gone down?

[workinclasszero]

4. Not that I noticed the last time I bought some

[MissB]

7. Probably not but you might see a price drop on the dried chickpeas.

If you use them in that form, it may be a good time to stock up.

[JCMach1]

12. the big cost in Hummous is Tahine and Olive Oil, not chickpeas

[Takket]

2. elections have consequences.

don't like losing all your money, then vote Democrat.

[Recursion]

3. You know the difference between a chickpea and a garbanzo bean?

Trump has never had a garbanzo bean on his face in Moscow.

[Flaleftist]

5. !

[Ilsa]

10. That's a good one! I wonder

if there is a way to work in a chickpea comment about The Ritz?

[malaise]

17. DUzy

[Demovictory9]

6. is trump going to pay them off?

[keithbvadu2]

8. Not to worry! Donald says they'll be better off in the end.

Not to worry! Donald says they'll be better off in the end.

[Botany]

9. Lose the biggest market in the world and the farmers ..

... shippers, rail roads, production storage units, and lots of others are fucked. But in the end what about HRC'S emails?

Thanks media for not pointing out that Trump was a failed businessman and the apprentice was a make believe TV show.

[Blue_true]

11. The New Media are as much assholes as Trump is.

For example, a positive story about Trump stays on the news feed for 2-4 days. Stories that highlight his criminality stay up for maybe one day. It is truly corrupt.

[Blue_true]

13. But they vote over and over to put republicans in office.

And I bet if you ask them whether they will vote for Trump again, most will and the one that are unsure lean heavily toward him. There are liberal farmers, but they are few, wish there was someway to help them sell their produce while the rightwing neighbors sank. Sorry, I can't be charitable toward a group that overwhelmingly helped give us Trump and election after election send knuckleheads to congress.

[Achilleaze]

14. republicans have pissed on America's farmers

deplorable

[yortsed snacilbuper]

15. Maybe they can attend trump univer$ity to learn a new trade,

Oh, wait!

[UTUSN]

16. K&R