Everett Griner talks about how trade and politics directly impact farm jobs and farming in today’s Agri View.
Trade, Politics Impacting Farm Jobs
The uncertainty of the future of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) has a lot of people, besides farmers, concerned. If you look at the current structure and the possibilities, you can see why. An estimated 21 million jobs are related to agriculture and the food industry. That is just about 11 percent of the total U.S. employment. Think about how many people depend on processing, marketing and transportation.
And, it is not only what NAFTA can do, but the current farm bill working its way through Congress is also something to worry about. Directly impacted if NAFTA or the farm bill fails will be jobs all up and down the Mississippi River, plus billboards, the trucking industry and the railroad industry. And that is only the beginning.
So, you can see why farmers are concerned. Well, I hope you can.
That’s Agri View for today. I’m Everett Griner…