Is It Time To Sell The Farm?

This harvest season, American soy farmers are missing their biggest customer. “They can’t get rid of the beans,” said Joe Ericson, president of the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association, because China will not accept the usual soybean and soy product exports under a 25 percent tariff.Unpredictable weather and fluctuating commodity prices already mean slim margins for the small family farms that comprise 90 percent of all U.S. farms. Trade wars atop so much uncertainty may be a death knell for the next generation of small family farms, an unintended consequence of a trade policy aimed at protecting national security and IP rights. In this environment, the threat to family farms brings up important questions: How can farmers retain economic autonomy instead of being beholden to political swings? How can farming, in general, become a more independent and autonomous economic force?Once the ag community shifts focus to the future, to what works — R&D, investment and free trade — I am convinced the farm can, in fact, be saved.