County’s Ag Industry Faces Significant Challenges

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Image via the Chester County Planning Commission.

The combination of low prices, retaliatory trade tariffs, and poor weather is making it harder for farmers in Chester County to turn a profit, according to a report from The Pottstown Mercury.

This was emphasized last week at the 68th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization.

“Farmers across the board are facing economic difficulties as the prices they receive for soybeans, corn, and milk continue to fall,” said PFB President Rick Ebert.

He said that milk prices are deep in a four-year downward spiral. This is forcing dairy farmers to either sell off their cows or go deeper into debt.

Ebert stressed the importance of swiftly passing the 2018 Farm Bill in its current conditions. He said that the Farm Bureau is also encouraging the current administration to quickly sign new free trade agreements with key countries, and resolve the existing trade disputes with China, Canada, and Mexico.

“Retaliatory tariffs from China on soybeans and pork have resulted in billions of dollars in losses for American farmers,” said Ebert, “while Mexico’s tariffs on cheese and Canada’s tariffs on meat products have directly resulted in significant losses for dairy and cattle farmers.”

Read more about Chester County’s agricultural industry in The Pottstown Mercury here.

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