Members in the News: Gundersen, Zhang, Schultz, Hayes, Brown, Hubbs, Irwin, MacDonald, Sheldon, Tyner, Taheripour, Marchant, Smith, Tonsor, Mitchell

Craig Gundersen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Home-delivered meals might reduce ER visits, study suggests By: The Washington Post - April 2, 2018 “This is an excellent study that really points out, again, how important it is to get food to people,” said Craig Gundersen, a professor of agricultural strategy at the University of Illinois, who was not involved in the study. “Some people's response is that will drive up the federal budget, which on one hand it does. But on the other hand, we have to look at the cost savings associated with this ... [through] non-trivial reductions in health-care costs in our country.” (Continued...) Read more on: The Washington Post Wendong Zhang, Iowa State University Fear of 'disastrous situation' in farm economy as China targets huge US soybean business By: CNBC - April 4, 2018 "They are hitting soybeans, wheat, corn and cotton — so all the agricultural products — and this is in addition to what they announced already on pork and sorghum," said Wendong Zhang, assistant professor of economics at Iowa State University. "So essentially if this becomes a reality two months later, this will be a disastrous situation for U.S. agriculture." (Continued...) Read more on: CNBC, Marketplace, High Plains Public Radio, Ottumwa Courier, Radio Iowa, Business Record Lee Schulz, Iowa State University Iowa's Hog Farmers Are Facing Losses Thanks to Trump's Trade War By: Bloomberg - April 3, 2018 Hog producers in Iowa have seen their returns plunge in the last month and losses are expected for the full year as China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. pork take effect. On average, the farmers will probably see a loss of $4.34 per hog, based on futures prices as of April 2, according to Lee Schulz, an assistant professor who specializes in agricultural economics at Iowa State University. (Continued...) Read more on: Bloomberg Dermot Hayes, Iowa State University China Retaliates On The American Heartland By: Forbes - April 2, 2018 China meat giant Shuanghui International Holdings (now known as the WH Group) bought U.S. pork producer Smithfield Foods for $4.7 billion back in 2013. It is hard to believe that China will add new tariffs to a company owned by Forbes billionaire Wan Long. WH's share price fell 0.7% in Hong Kong dollars on Monday. That's way better that Tyson Foods, though. Tyson is down over 5.6% and the day is not done yet. Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes says lost sales would have severe economic consequences for America’s farmers. (Continued...) Read more on: Forbes, National Hog Farmer, Des Moines Register Scott Brown, University of Missouri Wendong Zhang, Iowa State University Why President Trump's Trade War With China Could Make Bacon More Expensive By: Fortune - April 4, 2018 In a statement, National Pork Producers Council CEO Neil Dierks said the organization is “disappointed” in the tariff, and is “hopeful” that it “will be short lived. That’s because, “We send about 60% of our pork variety meats” — things like pig feet and hocks — “to China currently,” explains Dr. Scott Brown, an assistant extension professor of agriculture and applied economics at the University of Missouri. “That’s some of where the biggest impact’s going to be.” Wendong Zhang, an assistant professor of economics at Iowa State University, estimates that pig farmers stand to lose $4 or more per animal as a result of the tariffs. That’s a burden, to be sure, but he says it pales in comparison to the results of proposed steep tariffs on soybeans, given that one out of every four bushels of soybeans grown in the U.S. currently goes to China. (Continued...) Read more on: Fortune Todd Hubbs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Scott Irwin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Prospective soybean planted acres a ‘stunner’ By: AgriNews - April 2, 2018 The U.S. Department of Agriculture report, based on farmer surveys, projected U.S. soybean planted acres of 89 million and 88 million corn acres. The USDA initially projected 90 million planted acres of both corn and soybeans in its Feb. 23 agricultural outlook forum. Todd Hubbs and Scott Irwin, University of Illinois agricultural economists, tackled the implications of the prospective plantings report in a March 30 webinar. (Continued...) Read more on: AgriNews James MacDonald, USDA Economic Research Service By the Numbers: A Look at Consolidation in U.S. Agriculture Written by James MacDonald & Robert Hoppe: Alternet - March 28, 2018 In 1987, more than half (57 percent) of all U.S. cropland was operated by midsize farms that had between 100 and 999 acres of cropland, while 15 percent was operated by large farms with at least 2,000 acres. Over the next 25 years, cropland shifted away from midsize and toward larger operations. By 2012, farms with 100-999 acres held 36 percent of cropland, the same share as that held by large farms. Read more on: Alternet, USDA, Amber Waves Ian Sheldon, The Ohio State University Ohio exports to China in crosshairs of looming trade war By: Record Courier - April 4, 2018 Canada and Mexico are Ohio’s largest trading partners, but China’s potential market is much bigger and growing faster. “If this was Mexico, it would be worse,” said Ian Sheldon, a professor of agricultural economics and international trade at Ohio State University, “but China is an important market, and it is an expanding market.” (Continued...) Read more on: Record Courier Wally Tyner, Purdue University Farzard Taheripour, Purdue University China's Newest Proposal Hits Indiana Right In The Soybeans By: WMTO Root Radio - April 4, 2018 Purdue professor of agricultural economics Wally Tyner and colleague Farzard Taheripour studied the possible impact the tariff like the one announced would have on the U.S. Tyner says the 25 percent proposed tariff on soybeans would hurt the U.S. economy. “Our estimate is that US economic well-being, think of it as GDP, falls about $3 billion a year," Tyner says. "In other words, it’s lower by $3 billion than it would be otherwise. That’s a significant amount.” (Continued...) Read more on: WMTO Roots Radio Mary Marchant, Virginia Tech Aaron Smith, University of Tennessee How do agricultural economists view possible trade war? By: Delta Farm Press - April 5, 2018 Mary Marchant, Virginia Tech professor of agricultural and applied economics, says China’s call to impose tariffs on $3 billion worth of U.S. products, a response to President Trump’s push to implementing tariffs on China, could lead to a trade war that will hurt both countries. “We’re looking at game-theory playing out on the world stage in real time,” Marchant says. Aaron Smith, Extension agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, says a China retaliatory tariff on soybeans could result in “profound implications for U.S. soybean exports and farm-level losses for U.S. soybean producers. "U.S. soybean producers are reliant on foreign markets as a source of demand for their production, with approximately 50 percent of production being exported annually,” Smith says. “China is responsible for nearly two-thirds of global soybean imports.” (Continued...) Read more on: Delta Farm Press Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University James Mitchell, Kansas State University Here’s why premiums, regardless of the current cattle cycle, matter By: Beef - March 30, 2018 As for history, the variation of inventories within a given cattle cycle is declining over time. In other words, from cycle to cycle, the gap between the minimum and maximum cattle inventory continues to narrow. That’s the conclusion of a fact sheet authored last year by Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University agricultural economist, and James Mitchell, a KSU graduate student in agricultural economics. In fact, they say, the range declined over the past four cycles. (Continued...) Read more on: Beef

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*Articles in response to the AAEA Communicating Out Strategy Press Releases highlighting: Government Relations, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, Choices Magazine, General Media, and/or 2018 AAEA Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.