Farmers move to defy Trump on NAFTA

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico




After trusting that the president would have their backs, many agricultural advocates now feel a sense of betrayal.

By ADAM BEHSUDI 11/09/2017 10:24 PM EST

After spending nine months indulging President Donald Trump’s desire to renegotiate NAFTA, agricultural groups representing farmers in Trump-supporting states across the heartland are now moving aggressively to save an agreement they consider crucial to their industry.

The once-powerful agricultural lobby was somewhat muted in its warnings about losing a significant portion of the $17.9 billion worth of agricultural products exported last year to Mexico, the U.S.’ third-largest trading partner, believing that the Trump administration would reach a settlement on other aspects of NAFTA while leaving agricultural trade alone.

Now, with Trump threatening to issue a formal intent to withdraw from the deal, farming groups say it’s clearer than ever that their pleas to save the pact are barely registering with a president intent on its destruction. “I’ve come to believe this administration is determined to end NAFTA,” said Gordon Stoner, a fourth-generation Montana wheat farmer who leads the National Association of Wheat Growers.

The fearful tone now coming from many of the nation’s farm groups has only amplified as America’s agriculture sector confronts the loss of its main profit driver — foreign exports. Many are now mobilizing behind the scenes to stave off what most believe would be a disaster for American farmers.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/09/trump-nafta-farmers-defy-244769?lo=ap_f1

[dalton99a]

1. Reap what you sowed

They knew where he stood

[WinstonSmith4740]

3. First of all...

"Reap what you sowed"
But yeah, I have no sympathy for any of these groups that ignored all the obvious signs that he was a pathological liar, and are now shocked, SHOCKED to find that he not only lied to them, he's actively working against their interests.

[ananda]

9. *This*

Exactly.

[weissmam]

2. well

they voted for this asswhole

[BumRushDaShow]

4. To the deplorable (corporate) farm voters

He told you multiple times what his plans were -

2016

Link to tweet

TEXT
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump

I will renegotiate NAFTA. If I can’t make a great deal, we’re going to tear it up. We’re going to get this economy running again. #Debate
8:45 PM - Oct 19, 2016

2017

Link to tweet

TEXT
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump

We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada.Both being very difficult,may have to terminate?
8:51 AM - Aug 27, 2017

Since his administration is completely clueless when it comes to things like this (i.e., doing actual "work" ), yet you voted for him anyway, it will probably go bye-bye.

[Achilleaze]

5. They infested America with him* and his republican cronies & comrades

so now they reap what they sowed. I hope they finally learn their lesson.

* Comrade Casino, republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief.

[Grins]

6. Bwahahahahahahaha!

Bwahahahahahahaha!

So, only when it hits YOU and your wallet do you become concerned.

WaPo story: "These Iowans voted for Trump. Many of them are already disappointed" - printed ONE month after the Great Orange Menace was inaugurated:

"Many Iowans worry Trump might cut support for wind-energy and ethanol programs; that his trade policies could hurt farms that export their crops; that mass deportations would empty the state’s factories and meat-packing plants; and that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would yank health insurance away from thousands. While the hyper-simplicity of Trump’s campaign promises helped him win over voters, they are no match for the hyper-complexity of Iowa’s economy and values."

"Values."

And Mexico, the biggest buyer of Iowa's #1 crop, now willing to pay MORE for corn from other parts of the world, just to give a big "EFF YOU" to American farmers over electing Trump.

Sweet, sweet, Karma. Must suck to be you.

[Wellstone ruled]

10. Karma has come home my friends.

Missed my prediction on the Farm Economy Collapse by six to seven months. Forgot the lead and lag of sales of contracts.

Amazing how Iowa who had been a relatively forward leaning State,is now crying and moaning like some impoverished Southern Red State. Election due have consequences and Tom Harkin warned of this happening to his State.

Hint as to how this plays out is,watch for cut backs at Deere and Case IH,when these happen,the bottom of the Heartland Economy will drop.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

7. Will this mean cheaper food for Americans...

... seeing how the international market for agricultural products from the U.S. of A. is collapsing, driving down prices?

I realize this is a rhetorical question with many answers, and products, grain and meat being the seeming biggest sectors. I pretty much know that the retail stores are not going to drop prices, when have they ever following fuel cost hikes and then drops?

[Rural_Progressive]

12. Just about impossible for food prices to get any lower

What will likely happen instead is a fire sale of family farms to corporate entities with a subsequent monopolization and increases of costs to the consumer, increased profits for the corporatocracy, and farmers being turned into neoserfs.

This does not end well for rural OR urban America.

[Sunlei]

16. Are you kidding? Corporate Farms dominate "billions in trade" to mexico.

[GulfCoast66]

34. You do realize that most family farms are also corporate farms?

Farmers are business people because a farm is a business. They incorporate for the same reason small construction companies.

I studied Agricultural and most all my friends came from family farms in Western and Central Kentucky. Almost every one of them were Corporations owners. Or their parents were.

[Achilleaze]

30. Cheap food is making Americans massively sick

Check your local listings for diabetes, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, colon cancer, etc. etc.

Cheap, crappy industrial food leads to cheap crappy health.

Cheap crappy food is a bad investment.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

32. Sorry you are so afflicted...

... but how will the loss of $17+ billion in grain trade to Mexico fix this?

[Achilleaze]

33. I'm in tip top shape, thank you very much

And I am also aware of the shocking statistics concerning the epidemic health problems brought on by cheap, crappy food, and the vast environmental problems brought on by crappy, cheap farming. You really have to be looking the other way not to notice these things.

In the meantime, I'll forward your question to the republican USDA and congress, since they are the entities with responsibility to fix it. To date, they have shown distinct disinterest in fixing it.

Sad.

[GulfCoast66]

35. More expensive food...

will really not help our poor citizens!

Poor Americans eat shitty food because it is what they can afford. Raised food prices will not help them. We need to find ways to subsidize healthy food and remove the hidden subsidies we give to shitty food.

But a parent who has to work 12 hours a day to live in poverty will not cook any meals, healthy or otherwise.

Some time I just want to move to France. If I were 20 years younger I would!

[SHRED]

8. Why did they think he "had their backs"?

Considering he ran on destroying NAFTA.

[broadcaster90210]

11. Dont care

They supported him. Fuck ‘em. It’s not like they weren’t warned. When their farms go under we’ll tell them its fake news.

[Rural_Progressive]

13. When their farms go under

your access to affordable food will diminish considerably. You may gain a brief measure of satisfaction as a result of having been "right" but ultimately you will pay a price for their foolishness.

[Sunlei]

15. They're all huge, huge corporate farms.

[murielm99]

18. No they are not.

We have farm property. It is a family farm. There are many family farms in Iowa and Illinois. I live in a pork producing county. I have seen family farmers build their operations from nothing over a couple of generations.

Many family farms incorporate. It is easier to run their businesses that way.

Yes, many of them around here voted for 45 and will pay a high price for it. If the farm economy collapses, so will the rest of us.

[Rural_Progressive]

21. Thank you murielm99

I guess with only 2% of the population growing almost all the food for the other 98% there is a significant amount of misinformation available about farming since the 60s.

The glee being expressed at the potential demise of American farmers can only be explained if a large number of urban dwellers have decided the trucks will continue showing up loaded with food at their grocery stores without any help from those same farmers.

Rural America is going to pay a horrible price for supporting 45 but being happy about that is much like being delighted that someone who's been knocked down to the floor for years is now going to get kicked in the head as well.

[Sunlei]

22. family farms incorporate, thats the key. I hope your farm didn't join a corporation.

I think it's wonderful to raise your own food and raise enough extra to sell to others. An entire extended family can have a great livelihood & good income from a family farm.

What does your farm produce? if you have a website and retail any of your foods- message me, I love to buy from family businesses.

[murielm99]

24. We raise small grains.

We have property in Illinois that is about forty acres tillable. We have ninety acres in Iowa.

Other farm operators farm for us now that my husband is seventy-three. We live in a refurbished farm house with several acres. It is not connected to our property.

We always had jobs away from the farm. Some years, we do not make much money. Some years, we make about as much as someone who works full time at McDonald's. During the better years, we helped our children with college, improved our home, that sort of thing.

There are wealthy family farmers. We are not among those. We are still lucky to have what we have. It is real.

A few years ago, when it looked like the world economy would collapse, a lot of wealthy hedge fund managers, bankers and investors came to a county north of us. They tried very hard to buy up fourth and fifth generation farms, mostly dairy. They thought that if a worldwide collapse came, they would need something real.

We have farmers around here who raise organic vegetables and livestock. A couple of the livestock producers have long waiting lists. They cannot produce enough for people who want this type of meat. There are some small farmers who have turn their property into corn mazes and apple orchards. They are swamped in the fall with people who want that experience. We have a few apple trees on our property. We make cider, sharing a press with a neighbor.

I do not garden any more, now that my children do not live at home. I would be overstocked in a hurry. I buy from the local farmer's market. I can always tell if my veggies came from the farmer's market or the store. Last night, I had butternut squash that was so good I ate too much.

At the last farmer's market of the season, I bought some ground pork and ham from one of my neighbors. We talked for awhile about our grandparents' farms. We talked about hog butchering and old farm kitchens, the heart of the home. We are both glad that we have experienced this way of life.

[Sunlei]

28. What a wonderful life and you are lucky to enjoy real butternut squash!

That's very interesting what you said about a few years ago you had an influx of wealthy people buying " fourth and fifth generation farms". IMO, that's when America really changed for small family run farms, and corporate farming grew even more into a much larger industry.

That influx of "wealthy buyers" happened about 10/12 yrs ago to a veterinarian I knew who (helped) manage a ranch where cattle were open grazed , along with neighbor family ranches cattle on thousands of acres of common land. Several of the ranches 'sold' very quickly. Some workers were retained, some families left, some stayed as management- she was let go at that time.

[GulfCoast66]

36. Oh for heavens sake!

Almost all row crop and livestock farms in the US are Family farms. And corporate farms. Hell, the family owned ice cream shop up the road from you is incorporated. Is that a problem?

You think family farms are like the Waltons with Ma feeding the Chickens and Pa plowing the fields then feeding the cows? Successful family farmers are among the best business people in the nation. And all of them are incorporated.

[Sunlei]

14. will mean much lower prices for American citizens, so all 18 billion in lost trade doesn't rot?

They're not going to pour that milk in some river are they? Be great to have lower priced groceries.

[murielm99]

19. What they will do is buy up a lot of the grain,

take it to an international area, proclaim it is from Brazil, or some place like that. Then Mexico will buy it for a reduced price.

[Sunlei]

23. the workers & local economy where the product's grown have to take the cut in income.

[Rural_Progressive]

20. Do have any understanding of how modern industrial agriculture works?

Don't mean to be harsh but honestly you need to get a clue.

Commodity based agriculture is all based on volume. You get very, very "efficient" because you have to sell lots of product since your profit margin per unit is razor thin. If your ability to sell a large amount of product is suddenly removed and you have no hope of finding a new market since everyone else is in the same boat your farm(or dairy or ranch) goes belly-up.

You might want to do a search for what has happened in the past when farmers have produced more than they can sell and cover their costs. I'll give you this one for free and make it about milk since you chose that as an example.

http://time.com/4530659/farmers-dump-milk-glut-surplus/

Just happened last year and yes many dairies are just hanging on by a thread due to our current insane agriculture model.

There's an old saying I heard many times as a child "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mother and remove all doubt." I'm guessing that was not part of your childhood education. Please do some research on industrial commodity based agriculture so you can appreciate the predicament many farmers who followed the "get big or get out" model have been dealing with for the past 50-60 years.

[Sunlei]

25. Dairy is probably not a good example because corporations pushed out small dairies by over-regulatin

over-regulating retail sales of dairy products.

Although a large family that likes dairy foods, could easily produce their own dairy products enough for their entire family once they had a couple animals. Not much in feed costs either if they had decent land and knew how to put-up hay for winter.

[murielm99]

26. I have been part of a farming family for

forty years, and I still don't understand all of it. I am glad my husband does. He keeps a journal for me and our adult children. We are taking a real hit on corn prices this year.

Not all farmers are republicans. We belong to a core group here who have always been Democrats. We are active in our Democratic central committee, and in county government, in positions like the county board and planning commission. We have helped keep the lights burning for Democrats and Democratic candidates in this area. We have been doing this for a long time.

My family came from Minnesota. The farmers there are mostly Democrats, DFL. Keep that in mind when you complain, DU members.

Iowa used to be much more blue. I don't know what happened. I hope we can change some things in our part of the country.

[Achilleaze]

31. I said this upthread, but it bears repeating

Cheap food is making Americans massively sick

Check your local listings for diabetes, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, colon cancer, etc. etc.

Cheap, crappy industrial food leads to cheap crappy health.

Cheap crappy food is a bad investment.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

17. HE SAID HE WAS GONNA.

[LisaM]

27. That took a few months longer than I thought it would.

It was inevitable that they would turn on him. I just didn't think it would take this long.

[Hoyt]

29. Where were these pro-NAFTA people during the Democratic and GOP primaries, and general election?