Secretary Perdue hears farmer concerns

Aug 12, 2019

Producers are worried about the lasting effects of the trade war

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

U.S. farmers questioned Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue about what the government is doing to restore market access for American farm products.

“How are you going to keep the farmers farming?” Joel Schreurs, a cash crop producer from Tyler, Minn., asked Perdue at a listening session during Farmfest in Redwood Falls, Minn. on Wednesday, MPR News reported.

“The exports just aren’t going to be there. We’ve worked a long time to develop these markets, and we’re going to lose this market share. It’s just not going to come back in a day or two. So, how do we make this work?”

About 400 farmers and six members of Congress, including Rep. Collin Peterson, chair of the House Agriculture Committee, attended the session.

The U.S. and China have been locked in a trade war for over a year.

In its latest move, China announced it is suspending all U.S. ag imports in response to President Trump’s threats of more tariffs on Chinese goods beginning in September.

The U.S. wants to negotiate with China but not until it’s on a fair playing field, Perdue told farmers.

“President Trump would love to have a trade resolution,” he said, the Minnesota StarTribune reported. “But you can’t deal with a nation, the No. 2 world economy, that cheats and steals and builds its economy, its military and its desire for world dominance over cybertheft and intellectual property transfers.”

Perdue is also confident the U.S. ag industry can regain any lost market share.

“The markets are fungible. China is going to buy from where they see the best value,” Perdue said, MPR News reported.

Beyond that Minnesota farm show, some producers are calling on additional support payments.

The Trump administration must restore access to China or come up with more financial assistance, said Mark Watne, a cash crop producer from Jamestown, N.D., and president of the North Dakota Farmers Union.

“I’m happy for the (US)$16 billion, but I’d much rather get it from the marketplace,” he told CNBC Saturday. “The reality is I can’t. It’s going to be too little (and) too late for some farmers.”

The White House “should start thinking about another major bailout. Either you let a bunch of farmers go broke or you do another payout.”

Farms.com has reached out to farmers for comment.

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.