This is Bob Bragg with the Farm News & Views Report for the week of November 10th.
Over the past couple of months, agricultural reports have focused on the negative impacts of the Trump trade war, when it comes to agricultural commodities. So last week, the Trump administration announced that it was planning a trade aid package of up to $12 billion, to help farmers weather this Trump inflicted trade wound. During his first term, trade aid for farmers amounted to about $28 billion, which came from U.S. citizens, not from the countries that shipped goods to the U.S. At this point, it’s difficult to put a number on how many dollars farmers have lost with this latest round of tariffs.
In 1988, I visited Brazil and Argentina along with 19 other participants in the Colorado Agricultural Leadership Program. We saw first hand the potential that both of these countries had for growing corn and soybeans on land that had been used for livestock production in the past. Statistics indicate that since 1990, soybean production has more than doubled in Argentina and Brazil. Argentina’s wheat production is up 75% while corn production rose by 105%, and Brazil’s corn production grew by 40%. In contrast, U.S., soybean production expanded by about 42%, while corn production increased by 25%. So maybe those of us in the U.S. shouldn’t get too sure of ourselves when it comes to international agricultural trade. Maybe we might be better off spending a billion or two promoting U.S. agricultural products, rather than attempting to run roughshod over competitors.
Farmers got some good news recently as the USDA announced that 2,100 Farm Service Agency offices have reopened, with limited staff, to process payments and resume core operations despite the government shutdown. Those offices are set to release over $3 billion in aid for farmers that is unrelated to tariffs, which will allow farmers to access funds, including Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage payments, disaster relief, and farm loan processing, although some services remain suspended. This is a welcome move for farmers, who get a bit of relief from the impacts of office closures and the resulting delays in receiving payments and accessing loans that were suspended by the government shutdown in October. But farmers hope that the re-openings will provide much-needed cash flow from payments and loans for their operations.
According to news reports, Colorado western slope livestock producers are bracing for additional wolf reintroductions this winter. Since reintroductions began in 2023, Colorado has relocated 25 wolves who’ve formed four packs, that include a dozen pups that were born in Colorado. They have spread across western Colorado, with some movement into the southern region near the New Mexico state line. Of the 15 Canadian wolves that were released in January, six of them have died, including two that were legally shot in Canada. But there may be a hitch in releasing additional wolves this winter, since a letter from the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service puts the state on notice to "cease and desist" its plan to import another 15 gray wolves from Canada to be released in the state. This may be welcomed by western slope ranchers. Originally, the wolf reintroductions were projected to cost $800,000 annually, but the 2024-2025 budget now exceeds $3 million. With 37 confirmed depredations and more than $600,000 paid in claims, and cattle ranches are bracing for the worst, if reintroductions get past the bureaucratic hurdles.
So the Aesop's fable, "Be careful what you wish for" come to mind concerning wolf releases in Colorado.
