with Democrats to do right by the American people. In
agriculture. Market news, soybeans are trading at
$10.26 a bushel today, according to Wisconsin
farmers. At that price, they're losing money. Here
and now, senior political reporter Zac Schultz tells
us this is the fallout from the Trump administration's
tariffs on China, putting Wisconsin farmers in the
middle of an international trade war.
>> Combines are rolling all across Wisconsin, bringing
in what looks to be a good soybean harvest.
>> I think it's going to be a real good year for us on
our yields. of the Wisconsin Soybean
Association. Along with his brothers. He farms 4200
acres of corn and soybeans in Rock County. And while
his bushels per acre look good, the price per bushel
has crashed over the last two years.
>> The prices that were being offered right now
aren't covering the cost that it costs us to put it
in the ground. >> The decline in soybean
markets started last year, but it bottomed out this
spring after Donald Trump announced tariffs on China,
and China retaliated by refusing to buy U.S.
soybeans. >> Historically, China has
bought more soybeans from the US than the rest of the
world combined. And so when China doesn't buy from us,
that's a huge impact to us. >> Reboots semi holds a
thousand bushels of beans, and the minute he drives it
off the field, those beans have now entered the
international market, competing with growers in
Argentina and Brazil. >> They're growing more and
more soybeans every year. They're clearing
able to provide that to China.
marketplace. Our beans are cheaper than Brazil's. So
in the absence of tariffs, we're ultra competitive.
>> Andy Benson farms 3800 acres in Barron County. He
says most farmers don't have capacity to store
soybeans on the farm and have few options in this
environment. >> Those farmers are going
to harvest the beans. They're going to load them
in the truck. If they have a bin, they're going to put
them in. If they don't, they're going to take them
to the elevator. And when they get to the elevator,
they have a couple choices. Take what's offered or put
them in the commercial storage and begin to pay a
storage premium, which is so much a month.
>> But there's no guarantee prices will be higher next
spring. Benson says there's a very narrow window for
the Trump administration to fix this trade war.
>> We're running out of time. Brazil's planting
their beans. They'll be ready for harvest next
winter. And when they start making a new crop, if we
don't have ours marketed, guess what? We're going to
have a lot of beans. >> Ribaut says farmers that
were already overleveraged will likely go under.
>> Some farmers are going to go under. There are some
farms that you know are not going to be able to make,
and that's very sad. >> Benson serves on the
Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board.
other markets. And I think the biofuels thing is, is a
perfect example of that. >> The federal government
sets the amount of biofuels the nation's fuel mix, and
an increase could create domestic demand for
soybeans. That would lead to a new soybean crushing
facility being built in. Evansville has already
purchased land and has permitting in place to
build an $800 million facility that could process
70 million bushels of soybeans a year for their
oil. here that would help our
prices, because all those transportation costs are
will a lot of them would be eliminated.
>> Jason Sargeant is the Evansville city
administrator. He says they have a signed contract with
chess to start construction next summer. They're just
waiting for chess to confirm it will happen.
>> We have those dates in our contract, and they're
just obligated to kind of tell us when they've gotten
to that next milestone post. >> In a statement, a
spokesperson said chess is further analyzing the
market and biofuel policies to make sure the right
mechanisms are in place to support executing further
on the investment. Even if chess goes forward, the
plant wouldn't come online for a few years, leaving
Wisconsin farmers with 100 million bushels of beans
this fall and no good place to sell them.
>> You know, you leave your farm to your children, and
before I came along, they'd go out. They'd have to
borrow money. >> Even though Trump
started this trade war, Benson did rebound. Aren't
sure if this will change how farmers think about him.
>> By and large, Trump is a free market person. However,
he's become a little bit protectionist with this
this tariff approach. And I think I think we're
concerned I think we're very concerned because it's
affecting our livelihoods. >> You go talk to farmers.
There are some farmers that love him, some farmers that
hate him, some farmers that are a little less
optimistic. Now. >> Combining soybeans is a
dusty business. But when the dust settles from this
harvest, Wisconsin farmers will be on the losing end
of an international trade war, and the impact will be
felt all across the state. >> So to think that it's
just the farmers problem is shortsighted. Agriculture
is still the basis of our economy in so many ways,
especially here in Wisconsin.
us, it's impacting our local communities. Because
like I said, when we have those bad years and we're
not spending that money, that the local businesses
aren't getting the money. aren't getting the money.