In the age of tariffs, wars and worldwide markets, the agriculture industry, like a number of other industries, finds itself in a smaller world. While at times this is positive, other times it can hurt.
I’ve wondered, if we can stop wars by sitting down and having a discussion, why can’t we set world prices of commodities by talking it over? There has to be a price where we can all make money.
Maybe I’m a little Pollyanna here, but one feels so helpless in times like this, when everything is out of our control.
I realize President Donald J. Trump needs to do something drastic to get America out of the trade deficit we find ourselves in and secure our border from illegal immigrants and drugs, such as fentanyl.
I read only one percent of fentanyl in the U.S. came through the Canadian border, and the rest through the Mexican border, which is exported from China.
Fentanyl has become a commodity in its own right. We need to stop the supply, but here at home, we need to cure the demand for fentanyl. If the demand didn’t exist, it would stop the supply.
It is hard to know with China, but I think Canada and Mexico are really trying to keep out of a trade war with the U.S. Both have worked to curb the supply of drugs into the U.S., but they also have some tariffs which hurt the U.S.
There are also goods coming across the border that the U.S. needs. A number of paper mills in the U.S. have stopped producing newsprint and now produce cardboard boxes for Amazon, so here at the Roundup, our printer gets their newsprint from Canada. This and higher prices at the post office will really hurt.
Paper mills are like meatpacking houses in that they almost have total control and they most always make money.
As for beef, America needs to stop accepting it from Paraguay. In 2024, they exported over 19,000 metric tons of frozen, boneless beef into the U.S. and American meatpackers used their beef as trimmings. Trimmings are lean beef U.S. beef processors mix with leftover tallow for hamburger.
It is a good use for U.S. tallow, but Paraguay doesn’t have the same strict regulations over the health of their cattle as the U.S.
Ranchers across the country are worried about imported meat bringing in disease, especially foot and mouth disease (FMD). If FMD ever got in American cattle, it would be devastating. No cattle could be transported anywhere, and it would really tie up the beef industry.
The first vaccine-based FMD control programs for cattle started in in the 1960s. By 1972, most South American countries had joined cooperative initiatives to combat FMD through mass vaccinations and surveillance. However, after 30 years of fighting FMD, Paraguay got tired of not meeting the expected result of elimination.
While Paraguay still exports beef to some countries, China does not allow their beef into the country either.
Agriculture always gets hurt by tariffs, as proven during Trump’s first term when China stopped buying American farm products, especially soybeans.
So, the trade wars will continue, and as Trump said, “There will be some pain.”
We hope it won’t last long or hurt too bad.
Dennis Sun is the publisher of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, a weekly agriculture newspaper available online and in print.
