US agriculture says we just can’t take any more

In a rally speech in Tampa, Florida, on July 31, US President Donald Trump defended his trade policies, saying, “China and others have targeted our farmers. … And you know what our farmers are saying? ‘It’s OK. We can take it.’”

In tune with his plea made a week before to farmers to “be a little patient”, Trump continued, “You’re going to make it back and it’s going to be made back faster than anybody would know.”

It might be true that some US farmers have thrown their support behind the president in the hope that his brinkmanship would ultimately bring them benefits as promised. But more and more farmers and their lobbyists believe that his tariff tactics are hurting them, and it is more than they “can take”.

Christopher Gibbs, an Ohio farmer and Trump voter, was quick to point out that the big pie in the sky Trump was promising may never materialize.

“Hope is not a marketing plan. Hope is not a business plan. And I know you know that,” Gibbs said in a videoed message to Trump on Aug 2.

In March, the price of soybeans was $10.50 a bushel. Today, it’s $8.50 a bushel, down by 20 percent, Gibbs said in the video clip posted on The New York Times.

“I have to tell you, Mr President, this hurts. This is hurting our long-term future,” he said. “Whether it’s transportation, whether it’s production, whether it’s the clerk at the grocery store, when agriculture gets sick, everybody feels that kind of pain.”