Volatility is always part of agriculture, but the ups and downs of the industry have never been more apparent than what farmers have experienced in recent years.
From the impacts of a global pandemic to historic rises and falls in income, farmers are used to the roller-coaster ride; and there’s more uncertainty ahead as Trump administration policies take shape. All of this means that there will be plenty of work for John Newton and his team at Terrain, a partnership of four leading U.S. farm credit organizations, committed to helping farmers and ranchers make informed business decisions based on market trends and risks.
The potential impacts of Trump policies, including threatened 25 per cent import tariffs on Canadian goods, is a concern for U.S. farmers, says Newton. He sat down with RealAgriculture’s Lyndsey Smith this week at the National Cattleman’s Beef Association’s annual CattleCon in San Antonio, Texas to discuss what the next four years could look like and how government policy could impact U.S. farmers.
Newton, Terrain’s executive head, says the environment in which Trump comes to power for his second term is very different than 2017. “Today we’re coming off of historic inflation across not only the U.S. economy, but global inflation around the world. We’re coming out of that and the farm economy looks much different today than what it did the last go around.”
When it comes to tariffs and whether countries like Canada will retaliate, Newton says U.S. farmers will need to understand how that impacts their business, and how to navigate tariff strikes against essential fertilizer needs such as potash or energy.
“I think things are just different, and we’re going to evaluate things as they occur, whether it’s reduced regulations or retaliation on U.S. agriculture, what does that mean for the farmer,” says Newton. “If Congress steps in to protect the farmer, what does that mean? I think in this environment, things change so rapidly, so frequently, that you need to evaluate things as they occur, and that’s what we do with Terrain.” Listen to the interview below.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | All Podcasts
