General Audio

. There is no shortage of issues to talk about. I am so sick of listening to the left wing politicians’ constant attack on President Trump and the impeachment hysteria. Get over it! If you don’t like him, we have an election next November and you can vote for his challenger. Of course, no one knows who that will be. It is all politics. USMCA, which is a much-improved trade agreement over NAFTA is just sitting there waiting for the House to vote. They don’t want to give Trump a victory.

I was on my farm last week. What a relief to escape this circus of a federal government that we have here in DC. Instead of passing necessary legislation, every conflict, every decision is all politics. Nancy Pelosi won’t bring the USMCA trade deal up for a vote. Every day Democrats come up with one more demand. We must insist on an inspection of Mexican factories to ensure that they meet our labor rules. They must build new infrastructure to present cross-border pollution. Now they want to add some language to the trade bill to protect pensions of union members. Our Congress has serious work to do. The current resolution to keep our government open for business expires November 21. Not much time and we don’t have a House-Senate spending agreement. We could get one, but the clock is ticking. They could pass another resolution to extend the time to keep the government in business. Or they could fail and close down the government. What a dysfunctional nightmare. They don’t have time to do their job. They are too busy trying to impeach President Trump.

I will be on our farm in Illinois later in the week. We haven’t harvested any corn or beans yet, but it is time to get started. When I look out over our fields, I can’t help but think about the roller coaster ride it has been over the year. Prices up, then down – surplus then shortage. Here is a headline in the Wall Street Journal, November 28, 1980. “Big income prices loom as world demands more food.” That was almost 40 years ago.

Corn and soybean prices have taken a dive this week, USDA estimates our farmers planted 90 million acres of corn this year. The trade didn’t expect that many planted acres. And if we really did plant that many, we are certain to see our yield decline because of the difficult planting season. Crop projections are only part of the hammer on our prices. President Trump does not sound optimistic about the trade deal any time soon. He is not even sure the trade negotiators will be meeting in September. The U.S. has labeled China a “Currency Manipulator.” In a surprise announcement the President will not impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion in Chinese exports in September. That’s good. Speculation is that China may be hoping to delay action until after the 2020 election. Get a good deal or keep the tariffs in place – that’s what Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley said.