Capitol News

Mid-Michigan soybean farmers are reporting significant financial losses this harvest season, which they attribute to a trade war with China and resulting tariffs. Local news outlet ABC12 has reported that these tariffs, supported by Mike Rogers, have led to decreased demand for U.S. soybeans in China.

Bill Hunt, who owns Hunt Farms in Davison, Michigan, said that "the average farmer is losing probably anywhere from 80 cents to a dollar a bushel on every bushel we produce." He explained that the loss per acre amounts to "between 40 and 50 bucks an acre" for each acre of soybeans planted. According to Hunt, these losses are tied to China's decision to reduce imports of U.S. soybeans and instead buy more from other countries such as Brazil and Argentina. He noted, "They’ve never bought beans out of Argentina before, and they bought 60 million bushels of beans in the last three weeks that would have been U.S. beans."

The United States has historically supplied about half of China's global soybean imports. This year, however, experts say China is sourcing more from other countries. Hunt observed that typically 17 to 19 ships full of soybeans go to China each season; so far this year only one ship has left, destined for Portugal instead.

Mike Rogers has defended the tariffs despite their impact on farmers' profits. He argued that they are "worth the financial strife on the American people" and compared their effect on Michigan businesses to a "shoe [that will] pinch every once in a while."

Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Joey Hannum criticized Rogers’ support for the tariffs: “While Michigan farmers watch their profits plummet, Mike Rogers has been the chief supporter of the chaotic trade war that’s pushing family farms ever closer to bankruptcy,” Hannum said. “Rogers’ support for reckless tariffs is costing Michigan farmers tens of thousands of dollars as they’re left with more crops than they have customers – and he clearly doesn’t care about how his failed policies are impacting their businesses.”

Farmers like Bill Hunt continue to monitor falling prices and express concern about future impacts if current trade patterns persist.