January marks one year of the U.S. and China’s trade agreement

Jan 18, 2021

The two countries signed the deal on Jan. 15, 2020

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A trade deal between the world’s two largest economies celebrated its first anniversary this month.

Jan. 15 marked one year since President Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He put pen to paper on the phase one trade agreement in Washington, D.C.

Among other commitments, China promised to purchase $12.5 billion of additional ag goods on top of the 2017 baseline amount of $23.8 billion in year one of the agreement.

Has China followed through on its end of the deal?

As of November 2020, China had purchased about $19.4 billion of U.S. ag products. This figure represents about 76 percent of its intended targets, a report from the Peterson Institute for International Economics said.

What China has purchased, however, has been positive for the U.S. ag industry.

“What they did buy helped the overall ag economy and sent prices higher to ration demand on small supplies in the U.S. and record strong demand for corn and soybeans,” said Moe Agostino, chief commodity strategist with Farms.com Risk Management. “I could just imagine prices and demand would be much higher if we did not have COVID.”

Corn and soybean prices have been the biggest beneficiaries of the trade deal.

China has been rebuilding its swine herd since African swine fever affected its pig population.

Nearly 300 million pigs in China died or had to be culled because of ASF, the World Organization of Animal Health reported.

As of December 2020, China’s pig population is at about 90 percent normal, Reuters reported.

With swine populations up, Chinese farmers will need feed for their herds.

“Too many (people) underestimated demand last year, particularly from China, and the same could happen in 2021,” Agostino said. “They actually need the corn and soybeans.”

Future projected economic growth in China could also benefit the U.S. ag sector.

The Chinese “economy is expected to grow at 7.9 percent in 2021 versus 2.3 percent in 2020. That is a big plus for global ag demand,” Agostino added.

While President Trump signed the agreement with China, it’ll be a different U.S. president overseeing the deal’s future.

But President-elect Biden may be able to use some of President Trump’s tactics to ensure China follows through on its future ag purchases.

“Biden has the leverage to use against China with pending tariffs left behind by Trump,” Agostino said.

Video: Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Understanding how a plant responds to stress is one thing.

Using that knowledge to make better management decisions is another.

Systemic acquired resistance, or SAR, is the plant's more direct defense response. When stress or infection occurs, the plant begins signaling throughout its system and preparing defensive compounds.

But if we know that response exists, can we help prepare the plant before the stress arrives?

The answer starts with understanding what triggers the response and what the plant needs to carry it out.

The Trigger and the Fuel

Salicylic acid plays an important role in triggering the SAR pathway.

Think of it as turning the truck on.

The engine may be running, but it still needs fuel to do the work.

In this case, manganese plays an important role in supporting the enzyme systems involved in the plant's defensive response.

This makes manganese status an important part of the conversation. Whether a producer is using tissue testing, sap analysis, or simply scouting for visible deficiency symptoms, the goal is to make sure the plant has adequate manganese available.

Manganese is required in relatively small amounts, but that does not make its role small.

If the plant receives a signal to defend itself but lacks the nutrition needed to support that response, it may struggle to carry out the process efficiently.

The trigger matters.

The fuel matters too.

Prepare Before the Stress Arrives

The best time to think about stress management is before the plant is overwhelmed.

Once a crop is already struggling, management can quickly turn into a game of catch-up.

This is similar to nitrogen management. Once a plant becomes severely deficient, correcting the problem does not necessarily erase the time and yield potential already lost.

Plant defense can work the same way.

Low-rate, targeted approaches designed to support the SAR pathway may fit best ahead of an expected stress event rather than after significant damage has already occurred.

That requires producers to think about predictable stress.

We may not know exactly what the weather will do tomorrow, but we generally know summer heat is coming. We know certain field conditions increase disease pressure. We know a herbicide application can temporarily stress a crop as the plant processes the chemistry.

Even a properly timed and labeled herbicide application can create a temporary response in the plant.

That does not mean the herbicide is bad.

Weeds can create significantly more yield loss than the temporary stress caused by controlling them.

The question is not whether we should eliminate every stressor.

The question is whether we can better prepare the plant to manage necessary and predictable stress.

Not All Stress Is Bad

Stress is a normal part of plant growth.

A perfectly stress-free environment does not exist in the field.

In fact, some stress is necessary for normal plant development. A plant responds to wind, temperature, moisture, sunlight, and countless other environmental signals throughout the season.

The environment is stress.

The plant's job is to manage it.

Problems begin when the stress load becomes greater than the plant's ability to respond.

Extreme heat, drought, high salt concentrations, disease pressure, and even certain management practices can add to that load.

This is where understanding SAR becomes useful.

Instead of waiting until the plant is visibly struggling, producers can begin identifying periods when stress is likely and make management decisions around those windows.

ISR Starts With the Soil

While SAR is a more direct defense response, induced systemic resistance, or ISR, brings the conversation back to soil health.

The longevity of a farm is closely connected to the health of its soil.

Carbon plays a major role because it supports biological life within the soil. Bacteria, fungi, and other organisms interact with plant roots and influence how the plant grows, accesses nutrients, and prepares for stress.

This is why soil health cannot be reduced to one product or one application.

It is a system.

Keeping living plants in the field longer can support biological activity. Cover crops may fit some operations. Better water management can improve soil conditions.