Tariffs and Small Farms Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. There are a lot of get togethers going on in smaller ag communities around the country to discuss the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on small family farms.
Brian Kuehl (KEEL), executive director at Farmers for Free Trade, says a fifth of all farm revenue comes from exports …
KUEHL … “Right, well, I mean this is an important conversation, one would argue almost the most important conversation for farming. 20% of farm revenue comes from exports. So, if we’re not exporting food, our farm economy is drying up and blowing away.”
And these meetings, Kuehl says are key …
KUEHL … “These kinds of conversations, town-hall events, we’ve been holding these all over the United States as a way of trying to raise awareness about tariffs, how they impact farmers and how we need to trade in order to have farming.”
A common slogan for the current trade policy is “short-term pain for long-term gain,” but Kuehl says many small family farms won’t be able to hold on long enough to see the potential benefits …
KUEHL … “And that’s what keeps me up at night, literally. I mean if you look at 2018, the last time we had a big trade war, we saw farm bankruptcies increase. And so, you know, a farm bankruptcy is obviously an indication that something’s going wrong, someone’s going out of business. But even before you see farm bankruptcies, you’ve got a lot of farmers who are just folding it up and getting out.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on the impact of tariffs on small farms.
