100 Days of No Soybean Bids

Cramer’s Political Loyalty Hurting ND Farmers

(BISMARCK, ND) – Today marks the 100th day that no soybean bids have come in from the Pacific Northwest, causing grain companies to seek extra storage, yet Kevin Cramer is still doubling down on his support for the administration’s reckless trade policies, saying the “best way to end the trade war is by winning it.” Why? Because he’s promised to stand with this administration 100 percent of the time. Cramer has even opined that “tariffs are a tax on your own people,” but is still choosing to put his political career first by standing with the administration, rather than with North Dakota.

And Cramer seems ignorant to what’s actually happening on the ground, arguing that negotiations with China are progressing while, in reality, China canceled previously scheduled trade talks for this week.

While Cramer kowtows to the administration, North Dakota farmers are reaping the consequences of his partisan, political loyalty.

“Do you really think these countries will come back to us (to buy U.S. ag products) with open arms? […] We’re not spanking China with these tariffs. We’re not spanking any of these countries. We’re only spanking ourselves.” – Brian O’Toole, former chairman of U.S. Wheat Associates

“North Dakota is kind of the ‘whipping boy’ in my terms because we send 75 percent of our (soybeans) off the PNW (Pacific Northwest) […] Even if the tariffs came off today, we’re backed up enough that we might not see normal grain flows until next year (2019) at harvest time […] This could be a six-plus-month ordeal. – Tyler Stegman general manager, CGI Arvilla 

“It’s our opinion that things are compounding and getting worse. […] Technically, out of the PNW, there are no shuttles going out at this point. And we don’t foresee China coming back into the marketplace until late October/November. If that were the case, we’re at that point already geared up, shipping corn. You put the time it takes to move grain from North Dakota out to the PNW and onto boats, you’re looking at going to China in December.” – Tyler Stegman general manager, CGI Arvilla

Reminder: It’s been more than 27 days since Kevin Cramer missed his self-imposed deadline for when he’d become “concerned” enough to stand with North Dakota against the trade war.

###