[CHICAGO] American farmer sentiment jumped to a four-year high, with growers betting on rising crop exports as the Trump administration pushes for more trade deals from Vietnam to Italy.
Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins said during a visit to Rome on Tuesday (Jun 3) that she is working to get Europe to buy more US products including wheat and soybeans. That comes after Vietnam announced deals to buy American grain and the US reached a trade truce with China.
“We talked about getting more of our soybeans, more of our wheat, more of great products from America into Italy and of course across the EU,” Rollins said. “It is time that we move these products and continue to work on the world stage.”
US President Donald Trump has pushed an America-first agenda that has hit crop exports. Top commodities buyer China currently has no sales on the books for US corn, soybeans or wheat to be shipped next season.
Still, farmers are more optimistic, according to Purdue University and CME Group’s Ag Economy Barometer, which surveyed some 400 producers between May 12 to 16, just after the Trump administration announced “substantial progress” towards a trade deal with China. The index hit a reading of 158, the highest since 2021.
A “skyrocketing” number of farmers expect increased agricultural exports over the next five years, according to the survey. However, only 28 per cent strongly agree that “free trade benefits agriculture and most other American industries” – down from 49 per cent of farmers who agreed with the statement when it was first posed back in November 2020.
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The results “provide additional evidence that producers’ views on trade have shifted”, according to the barometer.
Rollins is schedule to travel to several more countries, including Japan, Brazil, India and Ivory Coast over the next few months. Her agency is also leading a mission to Peru next week in efforts increase exports and address an over US$3 billion trade deficit with the South American country.
Rollins touted the US’ “massive” trade deal with the UK that included a quota for American beef and the removal of tariffs on 1.4 billion litres of ethanol.
“We are just at the beginning of these renegotiations,” Rollins said. “I know we are making progress on China.” BLOOMBERG