Dec 16, 2020
JAMESTOWN – Mark Watne of Velva was re-elected to an eighth year as North Dakota Farmers Union president at the organization’s 94th annual state convention, broadcast virtually from Jamestown last Friday, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his message to delegates, Watne touched upon the resiliency of farmers and what they have learned from past experiences, farm bills and ag policies. He shared statistics that show the U.S. world market share of corn, soybeans and wheat is lower today than 20 years ago.
“We’re not really winning the trade war… and the lower prices are causing farmers worldwide to suffer,” he said. “Many ag economists and politicians continue to repeat the mythical idea that lower crop prices will increase trade. We have to rethink this process. Knowing what we know today should open the door to an agriculture future that is focused on diverse family farms and ranch operations with a fair and free market.”
to be faithful because they made that decision and voted for him. but i d have to say in the back of their minds, they re just not very happy right now. yeah. well, bob, listen, i want to thank you for sharing your perspective on all of this, okay? listen, best of luck to you. we re all thinking about you, and you re welcome to come on anytime to share your story if you want to talk about anything. thanks so much. thank you. thank you. i want to bring in now arnold kamler. he s the ceo of kent international. i want to talk about the impact on the manufacturing sector. so good to have you on. thank you very much. you heard that conversation. he s very candid there. tell us what you have been experiencing, how much money this trade war has cost your company. what has this meant to you? well, there s a lot of elements of our business. we are an importer of principally, until about five years ago, right now about 15% of our business is u.s. manufacturing. it s been very difficu
president trump says he is open to making a deal in his trade war with china but only if it s what he calls a good deal, a fair deal for the united states. what about the americans who are getting hit hard in his trade war? i m going to talk to two of them now. bob kuylen is here, a wheat and sunflower farmer from north dakota. also arnold kamler, the ceo of kent international, a bicycle company. we re so glad to have both of you on. bob, let s start with you. you say you have lost over $400,000 since president trump came into office. i mean that is stunning. tell us what it s been like for you and for other farmers during the president s trade war. well, every time we think the market s stabilized i sold a lot of grain last year at harvest for $5.70, and that was