North Dakota Farmers in the Trade War

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Mike Moen. Prairie News Service) – China is still holding off on making soybean purchases from U.S. farmers, as its trade war with the Trump administration plays out. A key North Dakota ag group says without an immediate solution, it could be harder for local farmers to stay in business.

As regional farmers fan out for the fall harvest, some are scrambling to find extra storage for their soybeans, because China continues to look to other nations for this commodity.

North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne said the dilemma also weighs down prices for other major crops like corn. He said the ripple effect could be felt for a while.

“This is a mess, and time is of the essence here,” said Watne. “We can’t just keep throwing things into storage and not have any corrective action, someplace along the line that’s going to utilize up the supply, or we’ll see two, three years of lower prices because of this action.”