Johnson: The Era Of Free Trade May Be Gone

The U.S. trade agenda is harming farmers and with the depressed farm economy and overproduction of commodities, National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson suggests it’s time to rethink U.S. farm policy.  Johnson recently said it’s time to have an “honest conversation” on farm policy in the United States.

“This era of free trade that we’ve been talking about I think it’s gone.  Who are we going to sell to?  We behave as though those markets are important.  That’s not to say there are some policy choices we can make, but we’re going to have to have an honest conversation and start making different choices.”

Johnson said it’s also time to think about how much the United States is producing.

“One of those choices need to be about thinking about putting incentives in place for farmers to back off on production.  Whether it’s in dairy or its in crops, we’ve just got huge surpluses and fewer and fewer places around the world to sell them.”

Johnson is portraying a “wait and see” approach regarding the Trump administration’s planned $15 billion trade aid package in the works currently, noting that depending on how it is structured, it could make matters worse if the U.S. dumps commodities on poor countries.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com