The U.S. Grains Council in partnership with the National Corn Growers Association created the concept of “Trade School” to meet increased requests from their members for more information about how U.S. trade policy is made and how current trade policy events will affect their business.
These growers know exactly how the trade news corresponds with the price they garner for their crops. The question on their minds is, what do we need to know about non-agricultural trade issues that are affecting the price of corn and which markets they can sell to? When the U.S. administration goes after China’s failures to protect intellectual property rights of U.S. high-technologies, it impacts corn. When the United States imposes tariffs on steel, it can raise the price of a center-pivot irrigation system.
These were the kinds of issues we discussed in St. Louis at a gathering of corn growers from throughout the Midwest. It was my privilege to be invited to present and answer questions throughout the session.
Afterward, I wrote this post for TradeVistas, inspired by what I learned from participants.
