Headlines:
- What North Carolina Farms Needs After Hurricane Florence
North Carolina and other states on the east coast were hit by Hurricane Florence just over one week ago. The storm’s winds battered crops and its rainfall, more than 30 feet in some areas, caused flooding that closed major interstates and shut down entire towns. Agriculture, the number one industry in my state, took a hard hit, the full extent which won’t be known for months. The needs of the agriculture community are great and may not be as obvious as you think. We need you to know we prepared for this storm. Generators were checked; fuel and feed were stockpiled. Animals were moved to higher ground (more than 20,000 hogs alone). Knowing North Carolina is in hurricane alley, hog farmers began preparing lagoons in August so these manure storage ponds would be able to hold as much rain water as possible. You can read more about how lagoons work on the NC Pork Council’s website. We need you to know farmers stayed behind, even when told to leave. There are no livestock on our farm, but we had tobacco barns running and didn’t leave. Livestock farmers stayed on their farms, sometimes in the barn, putting themselves in harm’s way to protect the animals in their care.
- Trump Clinches His First Trade Deal with Revamped South Korea Pact
Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in signed a renegotiated free-trade agreement on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, marking the first time the U.S. president has finalized a major trade deal since entering office. The deal is “tangible evidence of the strength of the relationship between our two countries,” the leaders said in a joint statement Monday in New York. The signing ceremony represents key progress for proponents of free trade between the partners, as Trump last year reportedly planned to withdraw from the pact, which came into effect in 2012. Trump during his election campaign called the original agreement a “jobs killer” and complained its terms had contributed to America’s growing trade deficit. As part of his push to rebalance global trade in America’s favor, the president is also negotiating changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement and is pressuring China to lower its barriers to American products. Nafta negotiations are ongoing, while there are few signs of progress with Beijing. Trade analysts say changes to the South Korea agreement were largely cosmetic, as the president limited the scope of renegotiations by declining to invoke U.S. trade law that would have required congressional approval of the final deal. Terms of the new pact, which the White House unveiled in March, showed modifications to tariffs and automotive quotas. Trump on Monday characterized the FTA with South Korea as “a brand-new agreement” rather than an incremental change. Moon, speaking through a translator, said the two countries had made “improvements and modifications” to the deal.
Summary:
Corn futures finished slightly higher with concern over farmers being able to getting back in the harvest field. There has been sizeable rainfall across the Midwest causing fear of additional potential damage to corn crops. December corn closed up 3.75 cents. Soybeans ended lower with tariffs moving forward. China cancelled the recent trade talks meeting and the tension between the two nations are reportedly mounting. The US and China have no set schedule for further trade talks. The US has increased soybean exports into the European Union as trade war intensifies. November soybeans lost 6.75 cents on the day. Wheat futures ticked higher once again staying true to its cyclical projections. December Chicago wheat gained 4.50 cents on the day.
