Political Payback Is A ***** . . . . .

[Wake-up!]

U.S. farmers have never experienced a year quite like this.  During the first half of 2019, endless rain and unprecedented flooding were the major problems.  As a result of the incredibly wet conditions, millions of acres of prime farmland didn't get planted at all, and tens of millions of other acres are going to yield a lot less than usual.  Even without anything else happening, we were going to see farm bankruptcies soar to absolutely crazy levels, but now the Chinese government is essentially cutting off U.S. agricultural imports.

This will greatly depress the prices that U.S. farmers get for their crops, and so many farmers that were still hoping to squeeze out a profit for this year will be hit with a loss instead.  Ultimately, the truth is that 2019 is going to be a death blow for countless U.S. farmers that were barely hanging on financially after a string of really tough years.  Many will leave the industry entirely and never go back to farming again, and our nation will be worse off because of it.

The rest is here;  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-07/worst-year-ever-chinas-ban-us-ag-products-will-be-death-blow-countless-farms

And here is a challenging read if you want to sort out the labyrinth of treaties and agreements and their international economic implications. At least it is one organization's opinion;  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-08/where-here

It is a bad time to be tied to central banks and international trade agreements. Like the subject line says . . . . .