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Showing Original Post only (View all)U.S. Farmers Stung by Tariffs Now Face a $3.5 Billion Corn Loss [View all]
Source: Bloomberg
American farmers already stung by President Donald Trumps trade wars now face billions of dollars in potential losses as controversial data from the U.S. government snuffs out a rally in corn.
The Agriculture Department on Monday said farmers planted a bigger corn area than analysts estimated and pegged crop yields that also exceeded expectations, sparking the biggest rout in futures since 2013. That was a blow to growers who were holding back supplies, hoping a rally that started in May due to delayed sowing would extend through the fall.
The decline represents a potential loss of almost $3.5 billion for U.S. farmers, according to the American Farm Bureau, and is another setback for them after prices fell following the USDAs previous acreage report, which was widely criticized for containing outdated data.
The latest data is compounding the pain from the trade war between Washington and Beijing, which has significantly reduced purchases from the worlds largest soybean buyer. Policy uncertainty has also hit the farm economy as a new U.S. deal with Mexico and Canada is yet to be passed. Whats more, the government is allowing 31 oil refineries to go without blending ethanol into fossil fuels, hurting demand for corn.
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Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-13/u-s-farmers-stung-by-tariffs-now-face-a-3-5-billion-corn-loss