With the recent increased tariffs on Chinese goods to the U.S. and Chinese officials announcing that they will no longer purchase U.S. agricultural goods, it puts even more pressure on Iowa farmers.

Farmers have also faced ongoing tariffs in the trade disputes between the two countries, along with low commodity prices and weather. All of those barriers, Rippey farmer John Muir says, are out of his control. He notes that he has to adjust his business for the repercussions of those barriers.

“It definitely affects the decisions we have to make on marketing. A knee jerk reaction could be, ‘Well I’m going to try and out guess when he (Trump) is going to add another tariff, or if the tariffs are going to disappear, or if all of a sudden China opens back up. So yeah every decision, somewhere in the back of your mind is, ‘Is this the right date to make this decision or should I wait a week?’ It just adds to the confusion.”      

However, Muir talks about the $16 billion aid package that was approved by President Donald Trump.

“The aid will be a very nice shot in the arm. And it will trickle down, I’ve had that discussion. There’s going to be some good aid checks, which will enable people to buy equipment or do some things that will help the whole rural economy, I’m pretty confident.”

Muir believes people who receive an aid check will be responsible with those funds, but he still wants to have a free market overall.