News

Wisconsin Corn leader says China trade deal is what farmers have been waiting for

The details of the U.S. and China phase one trade deal have not been announced, but a Wisconsin corn grower says it’s the kind of news they’ve been waiting for. Tom Gillis is on the Wisconsin Corn Growers board and serves the U.S. Grains Council.  He says, “I think just a deal announced and the agreement that there’s potential on the table, that’s probably good enough to kind of turn the frowns upside down you might say in the eyes of the farmers.”

Gillis tells Brownfield the trade deal and the number of acres in prevent plant this year might boost prices, and it might encourage growers to plant more acres in 2020. “Hopefully, maybe our rivers and infrastructure system will allow us to get our availability of some fertilizer and spring inputs in a timely fashion. That would probably precipitate more corn being planted so, yeah, there’s potential that we could sure fill that need if the customers come calling.”

The National Corn Growers Association told Brownfield Friday they are waiting to comment on the U.S. China trade deal until they see the details of the agreement.