2019 Is The Year Farmers Will Feel The Pain From Trump's Trade Wars - Forbes

Chuck Jones
Senior Contributor

To understand the potential financial impact to American farmers it is important to know that corn and soybeans are the largest monetary crops in the U.S. per NASS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. In 2017 the value of corn was $48.5 billion, with soybeans a close second at $41 billion. The next largest crop was hay, a distant third at $16.2 billion. For comparison, the value of apples grown in the U.S. was $4 billion and oranges was $2 billion.

From John Newton, Chief Economist for the American Farm Bureau, “The USDA’s prospective plantings survey results revealed farmers are planning to plant 92.8 million acres of corn and 84.6 million acres of soybeans. For corn, USDA’s acreage estimate was above prior-year levels, above USDA’s February projections and above the average trade estimate. For soybeans, USDA’s estimate was below prior-year levels, below USDA’s February forecast and below the average trade estimate.”

He added, “Generally corn and soybeans are in rotation. Soybeans have a lower cost of production but also have lower yields. But the recent rainfall and flooding could delay or reduce corn plantings for some in 2019 — leading to more soybean acres than initially projected.”

More: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2019/03/30/2019-is-the-year-farmers-will-feel-the-pain-from-trumps-trade-wars/#2796cc014838