Trump picks trade hawk to run USTR
President-elect Donald Trump, who declared, “I am a tariff man,” in 2018, selected Jamieson Greer, an important figure in the Sino-U.S. trade war, to serve as U.S. trade representative (USTR) in his second term. Trump announced the choice during a string of days in which he threatened high import duties on a dozen countries, including Canada, Mexico, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa.
Fundamentals suggest decline in farmland values in 2025
Higher interest rates and lower returns from rented land are among indicators “suggesting land value reductions of around 3 percent in 2025,” said three agricultural economists at the farmdoc daily blog. “A 3-percent decline would be in line with observed adjustment since the 1980s as well as expectations from professional farm managers surveyed in 2024.”
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
California suspends Raw Farm: State agriculture officials barred Raw Farm, based in Fresno, from distributing its unpasteurized dairy products because of tests indicating dairy cattle on the farm were infected by the H5N1 avian flu virus. (Los Angeles Times)
Gray leads Duarte: After trailing for days, former state legislator Adam Gray took a 190-vote lead over Rep. John Duarte, a House Agriculture Committee member, with 99 percent of the vote counted in a House district in California’s Central Valley. (Associated Press)
Cuts hit rural colleges: With college enrollment down 10 percent nationwide in a decade, private and public colleges serving rural areas are eliminating large numbers of programs and majors; 13 million people live in higher education “deserts.” (Hechinger Report and Open Campus)
Second term for WTO chief: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and first African to serve as director-general of the World Trade Organization, was re-appointed by consensus to a second term by the WTO general council. (WTO)
ON THE CALENDAR
Monday
Agriculture undersecretary Alexis Taylor leads agribusiness trade mission to Morocco, through Thursday. Morocco is the second-largest market in Africa for U.S. food and ag exports, with sales of $619 million in 2023.
Tuesday
USDA updates its estimate of U.S. farm income for 2024, 11 a.m. ET. At present, net farm income, a measure of profitability, was forecast at $140 billion, the fourth-highest on record although down sharply from the record $182 billion of 2022. The Economic Research Service will hold a webinar to discuss the income forecast at 1 p.m. ET.
The Federal Reserve Board issues its Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal information from its regional banks on the U.S. economy.
Purdue University releases its monthly Ag Economy Barometer, a measure of the agricultural economy’s health.
Farmdoc daily holds a webinar, “The U.S. biofuels feedstock puzzle,” 11:30 a.m. ET. For details or to register, click here.
Agricultural Retailers Association holds annual ARA Conference and Expo, through Dec. 5, Houston.
Wednesday
American Enterprise Institute holds a webinar, “Farming and the federal budget: Will farmers face a new age of austerity?” 10 a.m. ET. Click here for more information and a link to the webinar. Speakers are Roger Cryan, chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation; Anne Schechinger of the Environmental Working Group; Josh Sewell of Taxpayers for Common Sense; Nan Swift of R Street Institute; and Joe Glauber, an AEI nonresident senior fellow.
Thursday
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing, “What is the FDA doing to reduce the diabetes and obesity epidemics in America and take on the greed of the food and beverage industry?” 10 a.m. ET, 562 Dirksen.
Friday
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization releases monthly Food Price Index, Rome.
