Members in the News: AAEA, Reimer, Tyner, Hurt, Gundersen, and Sheldon

Agricultural & Applied Economics Association USDA researchers quit in droves as Trump administration plans relocation The Washington Post - May 22, 2019 Scientific and agricultural organizations, including the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the American Statistical Association, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, criticized the decision to move the two organizations hundreds of miles. (Continued...) Read more on: The Washington Post and Arkansas Online Jeffrey Reimer, Oregon State University Northwest agriculture: You're not in Kansas By: Capital Press - May 16, 2019 Oregon State University agricultural economist Jeff Reimer grew up on an Illinois farm. “We had hogs, corn and soybeans until about the 1980s. Then, you had to go big into hogs or you got out,” he said. “My family got out of hogs and that was OK. Just corn and soybeans alone were enough to have a good-sized operation and make a good living, at least in the Corn Belt.” “Of course, they are having big problems now” marketwise, Reimer said. “Corn and soybean prices are terrible. It’s a very dire situation, though there are still quite a number of operators with a tremendous amount of assets.” (Continued...) Read more on: Capital Press Wallace Tyner, Purdue University Christopher Hurt, Purdue University Tariffs pose threat to Indiana farmers By: NWI Times - May 19, 2019 China is by far the biggest importer of U.S. soybeans in the world, and has been since about 2011, Purdue University Agricultural Economic Professor Wallace Tyner said. The United States exports about half its soybeans internationally, such as through the Cargill operations at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, and China consumes about 62% of U.S. soybeans. "There's a lot of anxiety from farmers right now," Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt said. The countries of China, Japan, Canada and Mexico are the four biggest buyers of agricultural products, and there are disagreements with all of them. "Farmers were led to believe this would be settled by March, and it's not been settled, and there is uncertainty about what comes next," said Hurt, an educator in Purdue's agricultural extension program. (Continued...) Read more on: NWI Times Craig Gundersen, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Food Insecurity Leaves People Over 60 Hungry By: AARP - May 16, 2019 “We know that the number of seniors is going to keep on increasing. So even if the rates stay the same, the number of seniors who are food insecure will be expected to increase quite dramatically in the coming years,” says Craig Gundersen, a professor at the University of Illinois who coauthored the report. “Food insecurity among seniors is not just an issue for those who are poor.” “We thought the picture of a senior who was suffering from food insecurity would be an 82-year-old living by themselves in a rural area,” Gundersen says. “Of course, there are many, many people who fall into that category. But the real face of senior hunger is those in that 60-to-65 group.” (Continued...) Read more on: AARP Ian Sheldon, The Ohio State University Tariffs leading to ‘point of no return’ By: Urbana Daily Citizen - May 23, 2019 It took awhile to build a Chinese market for U.S. products, including American soybeans, and it will likely take considerable time to rebuild that market, said Ian Sheldon, a professor with Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). “Trade negotiations don’t get resolved in months; they take years. It’s not simple. These are the two largest economies in the world, essentially mud wrestling. I think we’ve reached the point of no return,” said Sheldon, who serves as the Andersons Endowed Chair in Agricultural Marketing, Trade, and Policy at CFAES. (Continued...) Read more on: Urbana Daily Citizen

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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.