It can be argued that the most immediate impact on prices for major U.S. agricultural crops and products that the government can cause comes from actions affecting the short-term volume of exports. The form and direction of farm policies and farm programs may have a more important long-term effect, but this occurs only after the lengthy drawn-out process of creating a farm bill every four or five years. There are examples that support our contention. The 1973 embargo stopping soybean exports and the 1980 embargo against grain exports to the Soviet Union both caused prices to decline immediately and severely. The threats last month of a trade war with China, initiated by the Trump administration’s actions, caused a sharp drop in crop...

TAGS – Feed Grains, Soy & Oilseeds, Wheat, North America, China