10-7 NWR Trump Talks Ag

This is your Northwest report for Friday, October, 7th, I'm David Sparks and Donald Trump has just assured leaders of the American Farm Bureau Federation that they will like his policies on trade and immigration if he is elected president. Trump called into the AFBF office for about 10 minutes to discuss issues with members of the Farm Bureau Board and was also connected to several state offices. According to participants, Trump made some introductory remarks in which he said he understood the farm economy is in a downturn. Then he took three questions. In response to a question about trade, Trump reiterated his pledge to renegotiate a new agreement to replace the Trans Pacific Partnership and told the group that it will be "fantastic". When asked about his immigration stance, Trump's response was that agriculture needs a reliable workforce and he will work to see that it happens. He also talked about drought and said that he would address farmers' needs.

Elsewhere, news concerning Northwest potato production according to Northwest Farm Credit Services spokesperson Michael Stolp. After increasing more than $2 per hundredweight (cwt) between May and August, December class III milk futures slipped, weighed down by butter and cheese inventories. However, lower feed prices are softening falling milk prices' impact on dairy producers' profit margins. Cost of production is down by as much as $1.50 per cwt on dairies where new-crop inventories enter feed rations. Globally, milk production is slowing, especially in the European Union and Australia.