US farmers have suffered financially because of Trump’s trade and tariff wars. Wisconsin dairy farmers now prepare for another round of financial pain as China announced it will halt American agricultural products after Trump placed additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
Dairy farmer Mark Ulness said his struggles began in 2014 because of a milk surplus. Trump’s tariffs have only made his financial situation worse.
He said that on most nights, “We make sure (the cows are) fed before we eat a lot of times,”
The Journal-Sentinal reported that Wisconsin lost 700 dairy farmers in 2018. Based on USDA data:
” Most (dairy farms) were small operations unable to survive farm milk prices that, adjusted for inflation, were among the lowest in a half-century.
As of Feb. 1, Wisconsin had 8,046 dairy herds, down 40 percent from 10 years earlier.”
During a rally in Milwaukee a few weeks ago, Trump claimed that farmers in the US are doing very well .
“We’re over the hump, we’re doing really well, and in the meantime our government has billions of dollars pouring in and that money is paid for by China.”
Ahead of the Democratic primary debate in Detroit, Democratic National Chairman Tom Perez called out Trump’s farm policies:
“The farm foreclosure capital of the U.S. unfortunately is America’s Dairyland, Wisconsin,” Perez said. “Wisconsin currently leads America in farm bankruptcies.”
Now with China halting US agricultural products, more farmers could face bankruptcy.
