1
00:00:02,903 --> 00:00:07,641
with Democrats to do right
by the American people. In

2
00:00:07,708 --> 00:00:11,378
agriculture. Market news,
soybeans are trading at

3
00:00:11,445 --> 00:00:14,982
$10.26 a bushel today,
according to Wisconsin

4
00:00:15,048 --> 00:00:17,885
farmers. At that price,
they're losing money. Here

5
00:00:17,951 --> 00:00:20,754
and now, senior political
reporter Zac Schultz tells

6
00:00:20,821 --> 00:00:24,858
us this is the fallout from
the Trump administration's

7
00:00:24,925 --> 00:00:28,262
tariffs on China, putting
Wisconsin farmers in the

8
00:00:28,328 --> 00:00:31,765
middle of an international
trade war.

9
00:00:31,832 --> 00:00:34,701
>> Combines are rolling all
across Wisconsin, bringing

10
00:00:34,768 --> 00:00:37,738
in what looks to be a good
soybean harvest.

11
00:00:37,804 --> 00:00:41,208
>> I think it's going to be
a real good year for us on

12
00:00:41,275 --> 00:00:44,778
our yields.
of the Wisconsin Soybean

13
00:00:44,845 --> 00:00:47,648
Association. Along with his
brothers. He farms 4200

14
00:00:47,714 --> 00:00:51,552
acres of corn and soybeans
in Rock County. And while

15
00:00:51,618 --> 00:00:54,388
his bushels per acre look
good, the price per bushel

16
00:00:54,454 --> 00:00:56,890
has crashed over the last
two years.

17
00:00:56,957 --> 00:01:00,894
>> The prices that were
being offered right now

18
00:01:00,961 --> 00:01:03,463
aren't covering the cost
that it costs us to put it

19
00:01:03,530 --> 00:01:06,300
in the ground.
>> The decline in soybean

20
00:01:06,366 --> 00:01:09,803
markets started last year,
but it bottomed out this

21
00:01:09,870 --> 00:01:12,439
spring after Donald Trump
announced tariffs on China,

22
00:01:12,506 --> 00:01:15,442
and China retaliated by
refusing to buy U.S.

23
00:01:15,509 --> 00:01:19,012
soybeans.
>> Historically, China has

24
00:01:19,079 --> 00:01:24,117
bought more soybeans from
the US than the rest of the

25
00:01:24,184 --> 00:01:27,521
world combined. And so when
China doesn't buy from us,

26
00:01:27,588 --> 00:01:32,159
that's a huge impact to us.
>> Reboots semi holds a

27
00:01:33,093 --> 00:01:35,562
thousand bushels of beans,
and the minute he drives it

28
00:01:35,629 --> 00:01:37,798
off the field, those beans
have now entered the

29
00:01:37,865 --> 00:01:40,601
international market,
competing with growers in

30
00:01:40,667 --> 00:01:43,370
Argentina and Brazil.
>> They're growing more and

31
00:01:43,437 --> 00:01:47,274
more soybeans every year.
They're clearing

32
00:01:47,341 --> 00:01:50,143
able to provide that to
China.

33
00:01:52,746 --> 00:01:56,250
marketplace. Our beans are
cheaper than Brazil's. So

34
00:01:56,316 --> 00:02:00,287
in the absence of tariffs,
we're ultra competitive.

35
00:02:00,354 --> 00:02:04,558
>> Andy Benson farms 3800
acres in Barron County. He

36
00:02:04,625 --> 00:02:08,061
says most farmers don't
have capacity to store

37
00:02:08,128 --> 00:02:10,731
soybeans on the farm and
have few options in this

38
00:02:10,797 --> 00:02:13,600
environment.
>> Those farmers are going

39
00:02:13,667 --> 00:02:15,569
to harvest the beans.
They're going to load them

40
00:02:15,636 --> 00:02:18,438
in the truck. If they have
a bin, they're going to put

41
00:02:18,505 --> 00:02:20,807
them in. If they don't,
they're going to take them

42
00:02:20,874 --> 00:02:23,577
to the elevator. And when
they get to the elevator,

43
00:02:23,644 --> 00:02:26,547
they have a couple choices.
Take what's offered or put

44
00:02:26,613 --> 00:02:29,716
them in the commercial
storage and begin to pay a

45
00:02:29,783 --> 00:02:32,452
storage premium, which is
so much a month.

46
00:02:32,519 --> 00:02:35,489
>> But there's no guarantee
prices will be higher next

47
00:02:35,556 --> 00:02:38,458
spring. Benson says there's
a very narrow window for

48
00:02:38,525 --> 00:02:42,329
the Trump administration to
fix this trade war.

49
00:02:42,396 --> 00:02:45,065
>> We're running out of
time. Brazil's planting

50
00:02:45,132 --> 00:02:48,101
their beans. They'll be
ready for harvest next

51
00:02:48,168 --> 00:02:52,539
winter. And when they start
making a new crop, if we

52
00:02:52,606 --> 00:02:55,342
don't have ours marketed,
guess what? We're going to

53
00:02:55,409 --> 00:02:58,712
have a lot of beans.
>> Ribaut says farmers that

54
00:02:58,779 --> 00:03:00,581
were already overleveraged
will likely go under.

55
00:03:00,647 --> 00:03:03,617
>> Some farmers are going
to go under. There are some

56
00:03:03,684 --> 00:03:07,421
farms that you know are not
going to be able to make,

57
00:03:07,487 --> 00:03:10,757
and that's very sad.
>> Benson serves on the

58
00:03:10,824 --> 00:03:14,228
Wisconsin Soybean Marketing
Board.

59
00:03:14,294 --> 00:03:18,565
other markets. And I think
the biofuels thing is, is a

60
00:03:18,632 --> 00:03:22,336
perfect example of that.
>> The federal government

61
00:03:22,402 --> 00:03:25,606
sets the amount of biofuels
the nation's fuel mix, and

62
00:03:25,672 --> 00:03:28,809
an increase could create
domestic demand for

63
00:03:28,876 --> 00:03:31,478
soybeans. That would lead
to a new soybean crushing

64
00:03:31,545 --> 00:03:35,282
facility being built in.
Evansville has already

65
00:03:35,349 --> 00:03:38,852
purchased land and has
permitting in place to

66
00:03:38,919 --> 00:03:42,823
build an $800 million
facility that could process

67
00:03:42,890 --> 00:03:44,358
70 million bushels of
soybeans a year for their

68
00:03:44,424 --> 00:03:47,094
oil.
here that would help our

69
00:03:48,795 --> 00:03:51,565
prices, because all those
transportation costs are

70
00:03:51,632 --> 00:03:54,668
will a lot of them would be
eliminated.

71
00:03:54,735 --> 00:03:56,803
>> Jason Sargeant is the
Evansville city

72
00:03:56,870 --> 00:03:59,740
administrator. He says they
have a signed contract with

73
00:03:59,806 --> 00:04:02,342
chess to start construction
next summer. They're just

74
00:04:02,409 --> 00:04:06,346
waiting for chess to
confirm it will happen.

75
00:04:06,413 --> 00:04:09,650
>> We have those dates in
our contract, and they're

76
00:04:09,716 --> 00:04:12,519
just obligated to kind of
tell us when they've gotten

77
00:04:12,586 --> 00:04:15,422
to that next milestone post.
>> In a statement, a

78
00:04:15,489 --> 00:04:18,792
spokesperson said chess is
further analyzing the

79
00:04:18,859 --> 00:04:21,428
market and biofuel policies
to make sure the right

80
00:04:21,495 --> 00:04:24,631
mechanisms are in place to
support executing further

81
00:04:24,698 --> 00:04:28,635
on the investment. Even if
chess goes forward, the

82
00:04:28,702 --> 00:04:32,906
plant wouldn't come online
for a few years, leaving

83
00:04:32,973 --> 00:04:34,942
Wisconsin farmers with 100
million bushels of beans

84
00:04:35,008 --> 00:04:37,544
this fall and no good place
to sell them.

85
00:04:37,611 --> 00:04:41,048
>> You know, you leave your
farm to your children, and

86
00:04:41,114 --> 00:04:44,284
before I came along, they'd
go out. They'd have to

87
00:04:44,351 --> 00:04:46,520
borrow money.
>> Even though Trump

88
00:04:46,587 --> 00:04:48,555
started this trade war,
Benson did rebound. Aren't

89
00:04:48,622 --> 00:04:52,659
sure if this will change
how farmers think about him.

90
00:04:52,726 --> 00:04:57,264
>> By and large, Trump is a
free market person. However,

91
00:04:57,331 --> 00:04:59,633
he's become a little bit
protectionist with this

92
00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:04,037
this tariff approach. And I
think I think we're

93
00:05:04,671 --> 00:05:07,608
concerned I think we're
very concerned because it's

94
00:05:07,674 --> 00:05:11,612
affecting our livelihoods.
>> You go talk to farmers.

95
00:05:11,678 --> 00:05:14,848
There are some farmers that
love him, some farmers that

96
00:05:14,915 --> 00:05:17,551
hate him, some farmers that
are a little less

97
00:05:17,618 --> 00:05:20,487
optimistic. Now.
>> Combining soybeans is a

98
00:05:20,554 --> 00:05:23,857
dusty business. But when
the dust settles from this

99
00:05:23,924 --> 00:05:26,727
harvest, Wisconsin farmers
will be on the losing end

100
00:05:26,793 --> 00:05:30,764
of an international trade
war, and the impact will be

101
00:05:30,831 --> 00:05:33,700
felt all across the state.
>> So to think that it's

102
00:05:33,767 --> 00:05:37,638
just the farmers problem is
shortsighted. Agriculture

103
00:05:37,704 --> 00:05:40,340
is still the basis of our
economy in so many ways,

104
00:05:40,407 --> 00:05:43,310
especially here in
Wisconsin.

105
00:05:43,677 --> 00:05:46,747
us, it's impacting our
local communities. Because

106
00:05:46,813 --> 00:05:49,650
like I said, when we have
those bad years and we're

107
00:05:49,716 --> 00:05:53,420
not spending that money,
that the local businesses

108
00:05:53,487 --> 00:05:58,392
aren't getting the money.
aren't getting the money.