Trump tariffs lead to bleak 2019 farm forecasts

Exacerbating the trade pain is a crop storage logjam in parts of the country stretching from North Dakota to Louisiana.

After soybean sales to China dried up, the commodity began piling up in grain elevators or rerouted to different seaports like New Orleans to export to other markets including South America, Europe and Africa. The backlog has left little room for newly gathered crops and widened the gap between market commodity prices and the cash payments farmers receive for their crops at the elevator.

Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-La.), a House Agriculture Committee member, said the numerous headwinds — which include soppy wet weather in October that’s kept combine harvesters on the sidelines — are creating a “crisis situation” for producers in Louisiana and elsewhere.

Abraham has said he’ll introduce an emergency spending bill aimed at throwing farmers a lifeline when Congress returns after the Nov. 6 midterm elections.

“We’re having to really shore up what we can… to keep our farmers bankable for next year,” Abraham said. “They’re not going to make any money. They’re going to actually lose loads of money this year.

“What we want to do is just make them survivable, so they can go to the bank and maybe get a loan for next year,” he added.

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