The end of COVID restrictions, failed trade policy, and a little John Wayne: A conversation with Wiesemeyer

courtesy of Sergei ~ 5of7 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

As always, there are plenty of things to talk about when it comes to the going-ons of the world — especially in geopolitics.

Jim Wiesemeyer, of Pro Farmer, joined RealAg Radio host Shaun Haney to discuss border towns and COVID-19 restrictions, Biden failed trade policy for agriculture, the next farm bill, upcoming mid-terms, and more.

Check out the summary, following the interview:

SUMMARY:

  • Wiesemeyer is a huge John Wayne fan. Any guesses on his favourite movie?
  • In more serious news, you will not need to be vaccinated to cross the border. Who would have thought Canada would do this first?
  • Canada in a couple of other areas recently has been ahead of the curve — interest rates, and things like that
  • We could be seeing a more aggressive Canada over the next year
  • Looking back to the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of the border cities — on both sides of the border — were heavily impacted
  • Wiesemeyer is glad he’s not in the White House. Maybe not as easy as some may think
  • The National Economic console should be saying, look, let’s connect some dots here. This would help temper inflation because of the drag that this policy has created
  • It’s going to take us awhile to get there, for whatever reason
  • What has happened with President Biden’s trade policy?
  • The acceptor groups — including some Democrats — are saying they don’t have one. And they’re correct, it’s not a priority. You can see that through the lack of initiative
  • Congress has dragged their feet on the ag negotiator at the U.S. Trade Representatives office, all that adds to is this is not a priority for the current administration
  • What we’re seeing in Canada is we’re starting to see it looks like the federal government is going to provide funding for changing practices that applies to their climate agenda. That’s going to be funded through a couple of different programs
  • The republicans are saying while they liked the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) as a funding mechanism, they think that both the White House and USDA is doing it too much from an executive order perspective. This has got to be a big issue in the next year debate
  • Can we expect to see this trend continue to develop world governments? Basically using climate as the reason to funnel money to farmers?
  • In the case of agriculture, farmers go, How long does it usually take for anything to get through the WTO? Probably a minimum of two years.
  • Secretary Vilsack mentioned this week the update, or lack thereof, with GMO issues in Mexico. And basically, when you read his response, he goes, maybe we’ll correct the situation in Mexico in 2024.
  • The only way you’re going to have a farm bill is to give the opposite party say if you’re a Republican, you have to throw billions and billions of additional dollars at Food and Nutrition programs. If you don’t, you’re not going to have a new farm bill. It’s as simple as that
  • Midterms are right around the corner. If you listen to some political junkies on the radio, it sounds like the Democrats are gaining some steam
  • It’s 180 degrees difference, because when you talk to real people, people who are going to vote — not just registered voters — you look at what the market is doing right and wrong

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