Yesterday, we began to look at a discussion I had with Dr. Sam Funk of AgServe.com, concerning the overview of the Ag economy and its relationship with the American economy as a whole. We started off by comparing the current situation to that of the famous farm crisis of the 80?s. We also discussed some of the tensions we are having with the global situations that have arisen with Ukraine, Russia, China, and Taiwan.
Today we continue the discussion about global and domestic concerns we having that are going to affect not only the rest of 2022, but into 2023.
One of the big worries is China?s economy, their relationship with Russia in critical moments in history, and our trade relationship. Dr. Funk talks about how things increased with the Phase one trade agreement, that has long since expired with no further agreements. The relationship China has with Russia and their support of Russia?s invasion of the much smaller Ukraine, and how it ties into there desire to annex independent Taiwan, has caused many strains with our relationship, and really adds a lot of question marks now and in the future.
Dr. Funk says that this is one of the reasons that the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates are so crucial every month. This helps keep a handle on trade situations around the world, while also monitoring our own demand challenges in the United States.
Domestically, we have plenty to worry about with drought, fertilizer supplies, and livestock challenges because of the drought. These are concerns that are going to carry over into 2023 and could even become bigger problems next year.
We will have more coming up tomorrow on those domestic concerns like fertilizer and livestock.
