Farmer confidence abroad may be at our producers’ expense
FARMERS WERE AMONG U.S. president elect Donald Trump’s biggest supporters. So is it any wonder the annual measure of their confidence levels have soared now that he’s running the Oval Office?
U.S. farm communications giant DTN runs an annual farmer confidence survey. It’s important for manufacturers, advertisers and indeed the whole country to know the mood of farmers, given their impact on the economy. Are they feeling positive and therefore likely to buy equipment and keep the economy moving? Or are they pessimistic about the future, meaning they’ll likely save their money and ride it out?
Before the election, confidence levels were at an all-time modern-era low. Crop prices have been in the basement and are expected to stay there for several years. The outlook for livestock wasn’t much better.
But when Trump gained office, confidence soared.
It’s nonsensical. DTN editor-in-chief Greg Horstmeier said the results defy logic.
“While most farmers have adjusted to lower commodity prices and are working on strategies to see them through tougher times, there is nothing on the horizon – not world grain supplies, not weather, not signs of new commodity demand – that would justify such optimism,” he said.
“The only thing we can put our finger on is the presidential election. Farmers and rural America played a large role in Donald Trump’s victory, and farmers must feel he’s going to make the world right for them.” So what will that take? Well, to start with, it will take higher prices. And U.S. consumers, like consumers everywhere, don’t want to pay them. So then, it will take new markets. And those are at a premium. But maybe those markets will be what are currently someone else’s markets.
And that’s what Ontario farmers – and indeed, farmers all across Canada, as well as our new foreign trade minister – need to watch for. They might be our markets.
Even farmers a world away have their antennae up. For example, in Ghana earlier this week, the Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA) issued a statement pressuring the new national government “to use its vast purchasing power in the interest of the Ghanaian farmer over the Chinese or American producer.”
The journalists recognize the need for a strong domestic agricultural economy. They say government support (not subsidies) for initiatives such as school lunch programs will create demand for locally produced food items.
The association has even given the government suggested wording for a buylocal directive, saying national funds must only be used to buy foodstuffs from local producers, unless the capacity to produce them doesn’t exist.
I’m sure farmers everywhere want their governments to also be their champions. Of course they do. But governments can’t do it all themselves. In Ontario, the province gives awards to businesses that do the best job of promoting and supporting local producers. It must be a total, all-in approach, involving everyone in the food value chain. Not just Donald Trump. But thanks to him and what will no doubt be exceptional support for U.S. farmers by the Trump government, I foresee years of David-and-Goliath scenarios evolving. And I’m sure suddenly optimistic U.S. farmers see it that way too, with Trump in the role of Goliath. Very, very fitting.
The only way to control this dragon will be to support our local farmers. No question, it will be more important than ever if the U.S. starts flexing its muscles.
Maybe a trade war can’t be averted, but its damaging effects can be minimized if people are committed to not only saying local is better, but by actually buying local, as well.