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Wisconsin Corn Growers President optimistic on trade

The President of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association says pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal might work out okay for farmers.  Casey Kelliher tells Brownfield President Trump could serve U.S. producers well with the right bilateral agreements.  “TPP was going to be big for agriculture, and there has been things said where he wants to negotiate with each country individually, which if he does, you know, that might be better because there will be individual trade agreements instead of a big group.”

Kelliher is concerned about increased production in a down market, and the potential for Brazil to add over a million acres to row crop production, but says buyers do prefer U.S. corn.  “One thing I always come away with from different U.S. grains meetings that our delegates have been to, the one thing the U.S. has going for them is the quality of the crop, and it’s amazing that comes up every time that the U.S. quality is at the top.”

He will be attending another grains meeting in Panama this week.

Kelliher says when he visited foreign embassies in Washington D.C., they feared the U.S. pulling out of the TPP trade deal would let China write the trade rules.

Kelliher spoke to Brownfield at the Wisconsin Corn/Soy Expo last week.