Chad Hart, associate professor, was interviewed for a Nov. 3rd Star Tribune story "Farmers Brace For What's Next as Soybean Sales to China Tank."
The Chinese were “buying beans to fuel their hog industry,” he explained. “You can find hog feed from other sources. We have also seen them adjust their average soybean rations. “Watch what happens the next three months,” he said.
“This is the time when the U.S. sees the vast bulk of soybean export sales. If the Chinese stay out, that puts a heck of a lot of pressure on Minnesota and other U.S. markets.”
Hart was also quoted in a Nov. 19th Public News Service story "Midterms Won't Tame Tariff Woes for Iowa Farmers."
"This was our biggest buyer by far, and there wasn't any other market close to being that same size." Hart said. "And that's been the problem as that biggest market has shrunk dramatically. We just can't cobble together enough of the smaller markets to make up the loss."
And in the Nov. 16th Iowa Farmer Today:
“In soybeans, we are seeing strong international demand there as well, outside of China. The problem is China was such a large market for us overall that realistically it’s darn hard for the rest of the world to make up for the losses.”
And in the Wisconsin State Farmer Nov. 5.
But the likelihood of another 1980s farm crisis is "relatively low," said Chad Hart, an Iowa State University agricultural economist. He noted that declines in commodity prices, land values, and income were "quick and sharp" in that decade.