Trump/Perdue not that into Farmers...

UPDATE 10/7: I think farmers have had enough, maybe, I hope anyway...

1. “I went to Madison feeling financially scared and emotionally depressed but hopeful,” said Paul Adams, who runs a 500-cow organic dairy near Eleva, WI."I came home feeling financially scared, emotionally depressed, unwanted, and unneeded.”

2. Brittany Olson left her Barron County farm at 2am to make the trip to Expo and hear Perdue speak. “To go through the effort to see the USDA secretary, only for him to say that small farms like ours likely have no future made me feel like little more than a peasant in a system of modern-day feudalism,” Olson said.

3. “To me, it really drew a line in the sand on just where this administration stands,” said Chippewa County dairy farmer George Polzin.

Danielle Erdvick summed it up this way in the story:

But I sense a fire growing in the belly of the family farmers I meet in my work with Farmers Union. Farmers are weary. But there’s a growing flicker that’s starting to feed a change in the narrative. No more will they be spoon-fed a top-down vision for rural America. Instead, I see a drive for a farmscape where fair prices, local food systems, clean water, and land conservation are at the heart of farm policy. How can we achieve it? It’ll take actually enforcing America’s antitrust laws and holding corporations accountable when they try to monopolize an industry. It’ll mean addressing market manipulation. It’ll mean not raising our hackles, as farmers and ag groups, every time someone wants to talk about clean water or livestock siting. It’ll mean continuing to adopt regenerative practices and thinking outside the box so we’re protecting our natural resources for our children and grandchildren.

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Farmers will never stop voting for Republicans. Sadly, GOP promises of "small government" simply mean they don't really have to do anything for their constituents, and deregulation is anything that basically leaves them alone.

Tariff War is not Their Fight: It seems farmers are okay sacrificing their livelihoods for big corporate interests seeking intellectual rights and protections. 

And then the last shoe dropped; Ag Sec. Sonny Perdue told us what big corporate Republican politicians were really thinking about family farmers:

Perdue told reporters that he doesn’t know if the family dairy farm can survive as the industry moves toward a factory farm model ... “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out. I don’t think in America we, for any small business, we have a guaranteed income or guaranteed profitability.”

A few farmers suddenly realized what was really going on...

Jerry Volenec, a fifth-generation Wisconsin dairy farmer with 330 cows, left the Perdue event feeling discouraged about his future. “What I heard today from the secretary of agriculture is there’s no place for me. Can I get some support from my state and federal government?"

Darin Von Ruden, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union and a third-generation dairy farmer who runs a 50-cow organic farm (said) getting bigger at the expense of smaller operations like his is “not a good way to go.  Do we want one corporation owning all the food in our country?” 

Democrats, Governor Tony Evers backs Family Farms, despite never getting their vote, but after Sonny Perdue's comment, even our laid back Gov. had to say something:

"Are they struggling? Absolutely. But I think at the end of the day we need to get behind them rather than saying, ah maybe you should go larger. I, frankly, resent that the Department of Agriculture secretary from the federal government came in and kind of lambasted them."

But don't take Evers word for it, here's a comment made at the Minnesota Farmfest about CAFO's. Note: Why were visa's for dairy labor ever determined to be seasonal and not year around?:

Trump Piled on First: Remember this...

Wisconsin dairy farmers are still feeling the sting of Trump's visit to Milwaukee in July, where the president downplayed the suffocation felt by farmers here because of Trump's own tariffs.

Trump: "Some of the farmers are doing well. ... We're over the hump. We're doing really well."

Farmer Response...:

"If he's saying farmers are over the hump, he would be badly mistaken," said Darin Von Ruden, a third generation dairy farmer. "In order to get over the hump we need to stop losing dairy farms."

From PBS's Market to Market: Trump's says farmers are happy...

Farmers are slamming Trump's $28 billion farm bailout — more than double Obama's 2009 payment to automakers — as a 'Band-Aid'.

Perdue editorial doesn't repair Damage: Nope, his word salad backtrack to obscure how he really feels, is a little late. In fact, Perdue reminds farmers how this whole problem was really Trump creation:

Purdue: "President Donald Trump has made it his mission to support American agriculture and negotiate better trade deals so our productive farmers can sell their bounty around the globe."

And don't forget how Scott Walker pushed oversupply in the dairy industry.

Here's what one farmer, "a great patriot," really thinks about Trump:

In Gays Mills, WI, over production and large dairy farms are locking many out of getting into farming. From WPT's Portraits from Rural Wisconsin:

Farmers won't be "biggest beneficiaries" of Trump's Tariff Trade War.

"Our Great Patriotic Farmers" never had anything to do with the US trade war with China. Farmers were thrown into the front lines of this tariff war via politics so China could hurt Trump's voter base.

This was all Trump's fault, and the press isn't shining a bright enough light on this. 

And yet, not even Trump seems to be aware this, as revealed here in one of his latest tweets. No, they will not "be one of the biggest beneficiaries."

Socialist Farm Subsidies? Yes: So our tax dollars are now going to be distributed again to farmers because they vote Republican? Remember, most of the subsidies went to large corporate farms, and what subsidies did go to smaller farmers were a drop in the bucket compared to their actual debt. Here are some of the twitter comments...

1. The Chinese buyers will find other suppliers so Trump better be ready to pay off the farmers forever! 

2.  You made it worse for the farmers not better! RESIGN. ... Meh. Farmers voted him in. Let them reap what they sowed. Maybe they’ll do a little research before they cast their next vote.

3.  “Patriot Farmers?” Or as the GOP would have called them if the Democrats had created this mess “Welfare Kings.”

4.  1. U.S. companies pay for tariffs; then taxpayers pay tariffs when those companies pass on the costs to consumers. 2. Hoping to be seen as a savior, you've now created a Socialist program for farmers that taxpayers will also pay for. And here's the rub: Trump pays NO taxes. 

5.  I just checked: China owns more than $1.1 Trillion in U.S. Govt debt. In other words, they are lending us the money (at interest of course) to pay Welfare for Farmers.

Note: Tariffs have also hiked farm equipment prices to unsustainable levels do to tariffs on steel and aluminum:

Brent Bible, a farmer, has nowhere to sell his soybean and corn crops. And that situation just got worse, because the futures trading market started planning for higher tariffs earlier this week, Bible said. "Just in the last three days of trading, we've seen the price reduction that equates to about a $50,000 loss for us," he added.

Bible isn't just running a business, he's also a consumer, and increased tariffs on steel and aluminum have raised prices on tractors and farm equipment he needs. As both a supplier and a consumer, he says tariffs are hitting him on both ends.

Trump, friend of the farmer voter base? Not so much:

Trump’s budget cuts would lower federal subsidies for crop insurance and small growers. The spending plan for 2020 he submitted for Congress would reduce subsidies for crop insurance premiums to 48 percent from 62 percent and limit current subsidies for growers who make less than $500,000 annually.

Trump will leave farmers with...?

"If the trade conflict with China continues much longer, it will likely leave lasting scars on the entire agricultural sector as well as the overall U.S. economy," Amanda Countryman, an associate professor of agricultural economics at Colorado State University, wrote for the Conversation in 2018.

And then there's this:

This latest round of tariffs will add another $500 a year in costs for the average American household, says Katheryn Russ, an economics professor at the University of California at Davis. And that could grow. "Once the tariffs go onto cellphones, I mean then you're going to see people scream," she says.

More...

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office list “covers essentially all products” not already affected by punitive tariffs … It includes laptop computers, saw blades, turbine parts, tuna and garlic. The USTR noted it excludes pharmaceuticals and rare earths minerals used in electronics and batteries.

Stubborn Rural Republican die hard Trump voters still think he knows what he's doing!!!

Republican voters don't expect much from their beloved do-nothing Republican politicians. Despite the GOP's growing list of failed policies and waste of consumer/taxpayer dollars, conservatives will always give them the benefit of the doubt, "more time," to test out their fantastical Ayn Randian theories.

For example, the costly Trump tariffs; washing machine prices have gone up by hundreds of dollars because of the tariffs, picking the pocket of American consumers by the tune of $1.5 billion, resulting in just 200 US manufacturing jobs. That $800,000 for each US job!!! Ridiculous, sure, but they did create jobs so what's the beef?

Trump Exploits Farmers:  Rural farm communities are still head over heals for Trump, despite being used as trade bait with no real timeline to end the tariffs. The NPR story below proves there's nothing that will flip die hard Trump supporters who still think he knows what he's doing.

70-year-old Sonny Sonnichsen: "I'm not a die hard Republican, but I'm following Trump. We needed a change, and if they just give him a chance, I think he'd do wonders, if he hasn't already done some great things." He says the Washington establishment won't give Trump any credit. He says they still can't get over the fact that Trump won.

68-year-old electrician Jerry Bryan: "We'll get through it, but someplace along the line, you've got to have a little pain for a little gain." He acknowledges that Trump often gets his facts wrong and that he lacks polish and that he relishes picking a fight. But he says the media, which he labels the left-wing media, jump on him no matter what. He thinks Trump has the skills as a businessman that the country needs right now.

You'll notice that's a whole lot different than rural voters tolerance of Obama, who was left with a Great Recession dig out from for gods sake:

John Boehner offering his plans for Obama’s agenda: “We're going to do everything — and I mean everything we can do — to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell summed up his plan to National Journal: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

Even the 2 or 3 daily disasters coming out of the Trump administration isn't enough to raise a few red flags for them, and they're still beating the old "they still can't get over the fact that Trump won" bullshit.

Meanwhile farmers are still left out there on the front lines of the tariff war, and continue to think Trump is trying to help them. Here's the difficult reality:

Marketplace: Chad Hart, a professor of economics at Iowa State University, (said) the longer tariffs are in place, the more Chinese companies might want to do business with Argentine or Brazilian companies. Overall, the Congressional Research Service predicts that the U.S.-China trade dispute is “expected to shift trade patterns and diminish U.S. export prospects in 2019.” According to Wesley Peterson, professor of agriculture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln:

1. Net farm income, the USDA’s tabulation of the money made by American farmers minus operation costs, was forecasted to be down in 2018 by over $9 billion, or 12%. 

2. Commodity prices for farm products have been falling, according to USDA chief economist Robert C. Johansson. 

3. But these indicators aren’t the total picture. U.S. farms were already facing challenges, and the trade war has only added to them. The trade war has disrupted international markets, and it’ll take time to see the full impact on the U.S. agricultural industry.

Who's the Commie Now...Trump!!! Trump like "Commissar, bribing rural voters hurt by tariffs!!!"

Can't disagree with Ron Johnson over Trump's continued debt digging $12 billion handout to farmers who were hurt by Trump's own tariffs...another costly and reckless self-inflicted wound with no plan B:

JS: Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson ripped the Trump administration's plan ... likening the measure to a Soviet-style economy. 

"This is becoming more and more like a Soviet-type of economy here: Commissars deciding who’s going to be granted waivers, commissars in the administration figuring out how they’re going to sprinkle around benefits."

Johnson's just waking up...

“Time and time again I’ve heard from farmers that they want trade, not aid,. Instead of throwing money at a problem we’ve helped create, the better option is to take action to make it easier for our farmers — and manufacturers —to sell their goods at fair prices to consumers around the world."

Like Scott Walker's $100 Bribe to Voters, Trump Pays Off Farmers: The $12 billion hole is just the start...funny too, Republicans are now supportive of federal taxpayer bailouts, based on their own dreaded "uncertainties," why not? Just in time for the midterm elections. Uncertainties are only bad under the Democrats.

Let the spending begin:

The plan also includes (1.) purchases of surplus agricultural commodities for distribution to food banks. And (2) the government will fund trade promotion to find new export markets for U.S. agricultural products. Asked if he would support the aid to farmers, Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) said, “I don’t generally like federal bailouts, but if we’re going to have these uncertainties in the agricultural industry…we just have to look at it.”

More naturally, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin wants to help protect farmers from Trump's completely chaotic actions.

WSJ: Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin backed an aid package to farmers. In a letter to top administration officials, she said: 

“I am calling on the Trump administration to develop a plan that would provide immediate support to farmers unfairly hurt by retaliatory tariffs and include a strategy to maintain the strength of agriculture exports.”

George Will wrote this recently, click here.

Walker doesn't have time for Tariffs, Harley-Davidson, Dairy Farmers and Immigrant Labor!

BREAKING - 7/5/2018: I guess you can forget everything I wrote below now because no one from Harley-Davidson asked for Walker's help to say something...anything?

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Back to the original blog post...

Republicans botched it up again, this time with the new and growing hemp farming industry in Wisconsin. Frightened Republicans stayed clear of "hemp" for decades, too similar to pot, while other states were drowning in the agricultural cash. In fact, they thought other farmers might treat many of their hemp growing neighbors as criminals and druggies.

Shhh! It's a Hemp Farming Secret: You won't believe what they wrote into the law legalizing hemp farming:

The new law legalizing hemp keeps confidential all contact information for hemp growers and processors in the state. This makes it difficult for farmers to find buyers for their crops in Wisconsin. 

Rob Richard of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation (WFBF) and Senior Director of Government Relations: “We were concerned growers would be harassed by people who didn’t understand hemp. Perhaps lawmakers should rethink keeping hemp growers and processors confidential ... allow farmers and processors to “opt in or opt out of public information so growers can access the list.” 

Walker oblivious to growing Dairy Farm Immigrant Labor Shortage: On separating immigrant children from their parents and the state's dairy farm dependence on immigrant labor, Scott Walker is nowhere near sounding the alarm to fearless leader Trump on border and trade policy. It's all election year photo op headlines and talking points. This is a red alert problem Walker doesn't see as an insane policy, like it has nothing to do with Wisconsin:



Yup, why comment about anything that might be incredibly important to America's Dairyland?

Half of all workers on U.S. dairy farms are immigrants, and the damage from losing those workers would extend far beyond the farms, nearly doubling retail milk prices and costing the total U.S. economy more than $32 billion, according to a new report commissioned by the National Milk Producers Federation ... 80 percent of dairy farms surveyed continue to hire immigrants ... More than 7,000 dairy farms would close ... It concluded that a complete loss of immigrant labor could cause the loss of one-in-six dairy farms and result in 208,000 fewer jobs nationwide. Some 77,000 of the lost jobs would be on dairy farms.

And Trump's reckless and ever-changing tariff war that's negatively impacting Walker's own rural farm voters...that's something far off in the future for Scott Walker. Like Walker said, if we had no tariffs, that would be better. That's a position? And anyway, he can always pass the blame off on Trump later, keeping his own reputation intact. Peas in a pod here:



"Foxconn Walker abandons Harley-Davidson too: Walker did the impossible; he made bringing an industry leader like Foxconn to Wisconsin a nerve-wracking divisive decision that should have been welcomed with open arms. Who does that?

So it should come as no surprise Walker never thought to defend Harley-Davidson from leader Trump's trade war. Asked specifically about Harley, Walker repeated the same pat answer from the previous video...uh we're talking about Harley, remember?:

Walker praised Trump's negotiating position during a luncheon with other governors at the White House. "The best thing you said at the G7 is the ultimate goal is let's just get rid of all tariffs," Walker told Trump. "You were brilliant to point that out. That's the ultimate answer."

With Walker's support and lack of concern for Harley, Trump felt compelled to double down.

Trump has no idea what makes Harley so unique, why it's not like any other motorcycle on the market. Incredible, and a reason Walker should be on the front lines saying something...anything?

Apparently, no one would dare try and correct Emperor Trump, or maybe google a few simple charts. Wisconsinites have been reading about Harley's falling profits for years, and the growing markets around the world:

“Harley’s primary issue is U.S.-related due to shifts in demographics, which began well before any talks of tariffs and trade wars. Trump’s reaction seems emotionally charged. Harley is simply playing the hand Trump dealt them,” Bernstein analyst David Beckel said.

Trump on Tuesday also appeared to incorrectly tie Harley’s June announcement to its sales last year, saying Harley customers were unhappy with the move and that sales had fallen 7 percent in 2017.

The final word...

Benn Steil, the director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joked that the Harley customers must be psychic.

"To punish Harley-Davidson for shifting production out of the US in response to Trump's trade war, Americans went back in time to reduce the company's sales in 2017 — the year Trump thanked them for building in America. Astounding!"

Walker's decaying Bridges force Farmers to travel extra miles, wearing out less traveled roads down!!!

Yup, another story...I'm not quite sure why rural conservative farmers keep voting for Scott Walker after he just keeps making things worse. What is happening, seriously?

It’s not crop prices that keep Shane Goplin up at night. It’s infrastructure.

Goplin, who grows corn and beans on about 3,000 acres in northern Trempealeau County, has seen the drive to his fields quadruple thanks to weight limits that keep him from driving trucks and harvesters across aging bridges. 

New weight restrictions were placed on nearly 200 Wisconsin bridges — most on county and town roads in the western part of the state — this spring. As a result, farmers and truckers have been forced to take detours to get their products to market and haul half-filled loads from “landlocked” fields.

“This is a very serious concern for us. We want to make sure farmers can get to and from their fields,” said Rob Richard, senior director of governmental relations for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. “If they can’t make the quickest, most efficient route they’re just adding wear and tear to other roads. … then it becomes a larger issue.”

While Walker and our congressional Republicans ignore the plight of the entire dairy industry, they're now allowing the rural network of roads to disintegrate for every other farmer trying to make a living, while the cost of their business and equipment skyrockets. Add to that slow or no rural broadband:

“It’s unacceptable in an agricultural state like Wisconsin that we have no schedule for when these bridges are going to be replaced,” said Craig Thompson, president of the Wisconsin Transportation Development Association, a coalition that supports increased investment in the state’s transportation network. “We need a schedule.”

Bill Freise, who hauls about 150 to 175 truck loads of grain to La Crosse each year from his Melrose farm, said bridge postings in recent years have forced him to find a series of new routes.“That’s not the end of the world. But someplace along the line we have to address our infrastructure,” Freise said. “What we’re looking at here is just the tip of the iceberg.”

UPDATE-Tuesday, 5/29/2018: Oh No, Bridge Collapses during Walker reelection efforts!!! It's amazing how much additional spending Walker is able to stomach during election years? State roads and bridges are crumbling, while Walker repackages much-needed maintenance revenue as budget surpluses to justify tax cuts? Wake up...

WPR: In a press release issued by Gov. Scott Walker's office on Friday, Walker announced $76.4 million in state aid going to 113 bridge projects scheduled for a program cycle running from 2018 to 2022. The current state budget included an increase of $20 million to the DOT’s local bridge program. Walker said, "We are providing the largest increases to local road and bridge aids in 20 years.

A very grandiose Trumpian declaration indeed. In other words, only collapsing bridges will be replaced...as "needed to achieve safety."

WISDOT Secretary Dave Ross echoed the governor's applause of the "Replace-In-Kind" program ..."This means we're going to build exactly what is needed to achieve safety and to improve the transportation infrastructure."

Trump Tariff threats have shaken Farm Country!

It seems the bond between Trump Republicans and farmers isn't about to be broken anytime soon. And I can't figure out why.

I will admit Democrats have done little to help advance pro-rural community solutions. But the growing problems farmers are facing daily have little to do with a handful of nagging regulations industry lobbyist say will kill farming.

My gut feel is that these are deliberate distractions from actual solutions that farmers and rural businesses everywhere need now, along with faster broadband connections. WPR:

Farmers have seen uncontrollable factors like droughts and storms and commodity prices threaten their livelihoods. In recent months, President Trump's trade policies have added fears of a trade war with China, the loss of friendly trade agreements and instability around the farm bill to the list. The string of political shifts have shaken farm country. 

Matt Purdue of the National Farmers Union say the instability comes at a time when farmers are already in crisis ... when the U.S. Department of Agriculture is projecting net farm income could fall to a 12 year low. Those slipping prices have meant existing crop insurance programs, which guarantee farmers a minimum price for what they plant, aren't helping to keep farmers solvent.

Many of President Trump's farm state supporters in the Senate are starting to worry that the president's policies and the political fight in the House are taking their toll on farmers. "A lot of these folks are really concerned and it's gotten to the point where in some areas there's been suicide hotlines that have now been established for more than a year," said South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds. "They want the president to succeed, they want him to be strong but they want to know what his end game is. Are you going to provide us with protections in the farm bill so we know that if we are hurt by the negotiations with regard to tariffs with China, is there something that is going to be able to get us by."

Bob Worth, a soybean farmer in Minnesota, said the frustration is growing in rural America. "You know, rural America really did elect President Trump and as of today, we're not mad at him," Worth said. "He's done a lot of great things for us. He created some he's also created some hardship for us too."

Trump Has "Done a lot of Great Things" for Farmers? At the conservative website The Daily Signal, one rural contributor wallowed in "grateful" and "celebrated" servitude to leader Trump, the Obama slayer, praising the small things he's attacked like rescinding...

1. The “Waters of the United States” rule ... Thankfully, Trump signed an executive order to rescind the Waters of the United States rule. (Me: Ignoring science and water protection, House Speaker John Boehner used every GOP hotbutton imaginable- “The administration’s decree to unilaterally expand federal authority is a raw and tyrannical power grab that will crush jobs. [T]he rule is being shoved down the throats of hardworking people with no input, and places landowners, small businesses, farmers and manufacturers on the road to a regulatory and economic hell.”

2. The EPA under Obama banned a commonly used insecticide that had been approved by its own science advisory panel, chlorpyrifos. Thankfully, Trump’s EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, lifted the ban as they continue to ensure that the product is safe for use as an insecticide. (ME: The graphic here says it all. If you're "pro-life," why aren't you trying to protect fetuses from this chemical? Because you're not.)

Or this feel-good challenge over a simple once a year general statement requiring no specialized equipment...

3. ... livestock farmers would be required to report emissions of greenhouse gases coming from livestock waste. Livestock farmers should be grateful for the support of the president ... (any facility emitting over 100 pounds per day of ammonia or hydrogen sulfide via animal waste (roughly 208 head) will be subject to CERCLA.)

This is another major win for agriculture and for rural America, and it deserves to be celebrated.

Food Stamp work requirement will Dramatically Hurt Farmers and Low-Income Households.

Here's what I don't get; instead of solving the root causes of social problems, Republicans go after the safety net programs put in place to help the victims of those problems. Remember "tort reform," it went after people injured or killed from medical mistakes, instead of trying to reduce those medical mistakes. The same is true of food stamps.

GOP Ideological Agenda different from Real World Problems: The lack of food and medical benefits for the poor, a problem in third world countries, is coming to the U.S.

In conjunction with the proposed $17 billion cuts to Snap in the Farm Bill, Republicans are getting waivers to institute draconian work requirements (30 hours a week in WI) that will drop many needy families.

"There is a proposal of a cut of about 17 billion to the SNAP or food stamp program over the next 10 years," said Zack Wilson, with the High Plains Food Bank. 

Work-for-Food another GOP created Problem: The GOP has been pushing this for a long time, and are now about to get their precious work requirements. But what got people on the food stamp program in the first place? Stagnant and dropping wages along with a ridiculously low minimum wage? The Great Recession that forced many big box stores and struggling manufacturers to go out of business? That was an outcome from the GOP's deregulation and voluntary regulation of Wall Street banks. So let's cut food stamps instead of tackling the reason why so many people need them:

USDA: “What would happen if funding for the Food Stamp Program were cut by $5 billion?” and “What would happen if food stamp benefits were converted from food vouchers to cash?” No matter which way the question is posed, changes in food assistance policy have effects on low-income households and the farm economy.

1. The $5 billion food stamp cut led to decreases in farm and food processing production ... approximately $1.3 billion and 7,500 jobs lost. The hardest hit farm sectors were livestock, feed crops, and fresh fruits and vegetables. 

2. The $18.5 billion food stamp cash-out led to decreases in farm and food processing production of approximately $3.5 billion and 18,500 jobs lost. Again, the hardest hit farm sectors were livestock, feed crops, and fresh fruits and vegetables. The production and job losses were distributed across the Nation.

3. The number of “working poor” increased as a result of the food stamp cut. Spurred by the reduction in food stamp benefits, low-income households sought more work hours, but, in aggregate, did not earn enough labor income to compensate for the drop in food stamp benefits. 

Business Tax Cuts Raising Homeowner Taxes, plus Trump Trade Reform makes for "Tough Economy" and possible Lowest Net Farm Income since 2006!

Scott Walker's version of success with better times ahead is basically wishful thinking that passes as Bizarro World truth...and that's never good, as you can see by their code...

The Trump economy, and ongoing trade talks, have been a big help...?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture projected the country's net farm income to be $59.5 billion in 2018, a 6.7 percent decrease from 2017's forecast … the fifth year of lower income levels after a record high in 2013 (Obama) at $123.8 billion. If the forecast is accurate, this year will have the lowest U.S. net farm income since 2006.

Paul Mitchell, professor of agricultural at the UW Madison, said “There's uncertainty about trade and that creates some issues." Darin Von Ruden, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union …  said he’s also heard stories of lenders making exceptions due to the tough economy.

Yes, these little comments have a tendency to slip out from time to time.

Walker, Tax Cutting Governor? Sorry, Wisconsin's Open for Business, not You:

JS: Larry Squires annual property tax bill in December (went) up nearly 14 percent, an increase of more than $260. “I definitely wasn’t happy about it,” Squires said. Neither were many of Manawa's roughly 1,300 residents.

Mayor John Smith said a key reason: Property taxes on the largest employer in town, Sturm Foods, went down … by nearly $10 million last year. “The rest of us taxpayers are going to pay the penalty,” Squires said. Sturm Foods employs nearly as many people as there are city residents. 

In Manawa, where "It's very much a trickle-down effect,” said O’Brien, whose personal property taxes went up by more than $500. “Ultimately it trickles down to the taxpayers."

Corporate Personhood devoid of Social Responsibility: Yup, we’re so grateful to be in their presence, we'll let them take money from our schools:

Manawa had to refund Sturm more than $100,000 for taxes the company asserted it overpaid. The Manawa School District also had to reimburse Sturm more than $83,000 as a result of the settlement, according to Carmen O'Brien, the district’s business manager.

The GOP tips "balance" to Business: None of this is new, Democrats have been saying this for years. But Republicans have re-framed their arguments to mean liberals are anti-business.  

Manufacturers in Wisconsin have erased at least $150 million in taxable value on their plants over the last five years, a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin analysis has found.

One paper company cut its taxable value by more than $13 million in the Fox Valley and central and northern Wisconsin. Another paper company won a big tax cut and then announced plans to shut down local plants and cut hundreds of jobs. The efforts by manufacturers parallel those of big-box retailers. 

Such action often means homeowners and other property owners have to pay more as local governments seek to make up for the lost tax revenue … 136 companies obtained reduced assessments around the state between 2012 and 2016. Among the largest losers:

► Manufacturers in Milwaukee County reduced their assessed values by more than $18 million, the most of any county. ► Outagamie County is losing $14.5 million. ► Brown County lost more than $11 million, while Sheboygan County lost $7 million and Manitowoc County lost $4.7 million. ► Oneida County lost nearly $4.5 million and Marathon County lost more than $2.5 million in taxable property. ►Expera Specialty Solutions secured one of the biggest cuts … of its paper mills in Kaukauna, De Pere, Mosinee and Rhinelander by a combined $13.6 million.

Small towns may feel the effects more acutely than bigger cities …

Scott Walker no friend of Rural Conservative Voters, unless he wants to get reelected.

Rural conservative voters see something in Scott Walker and his band of plundering Republican pirates I can't. Whether it's a simple (R) next to the name or one issue voting, things in rural Wisconsin aren't getting better, and they may be getting worse.

Farm Bankruptcies most in Nation: This just hit the news today. It seems Walker was oblivious to the harsh reality of his own voters:

New federal court data shows the Western District of Wisconsin had the highest number of farm bankruptcies in the country last year. The Western District had 28 Chapter 12 bankruptcy cases filed in 2017, a chapter specifically for family farmers or fishermen. The district includes 44 counties and covers more than half of the geographic area of the state.

Walker went after Rural Farmers Estates to Fund Medicaid:

WSJ-Dee J. Hall: The state Department of Health Services has new powers under the state budget to recover money from the estates of people whose loved ones have received Medicaid funding for long-term care … the Legislature’s own nonpartisan legal and financial agencies have warned that the changes … could violate federal law. Critics say the changes could prompt some elderly couples to divorce and make it harder for children to inherit the family farm or business. A couple’s home is exempted … But proceeds from the sale of that home could be taken by the state to repay Medicaid used to pay for a spouse’s nursing home or other long-term care. An elder law attorneys said, “It greatly expands the types of property the state can go after … In the past, the state could not go after the property of the (non-Medicaid receiving) spouse.”

What? Walker Proposes $50M In Rural Economic Development, but...: It seems during this reelection year Walker is doing another 180, after cutting help for rural farmers. I wrote this back in Jan. 2016:

Scott Walker's $3.6 million budget cut to the UW Extension should get rural Republican voters riled up. It continues the Republican assault on their own rural constituents that keeps them frustrated and angry at their own government. The UW Extension "provides farmers with technical assistance, nutrient management and more," but those days are slipping away, thanks to cuts signed by Walker.

UW-Extension, which applies research and expertise across the state in myriad areas, has been forced to restructure ... cut $1.2 million from county-level programs, $1.7 million from campus programs and state specialists and $700,000 from the administration.

Monticello dairy farmer Bryan Voegeli's concern is that farmers who rely on Extension staffers to provide answers for myriad issues won’t receive the one-on-one assistance that has been an Extension trademark for decades. He said the Extension was a tremendous help when he modernized and expanded his picturesque operation ... that now includes more than 200 Brown Swiss milking cows ... a new freestyle barn in 2005 and converted its old barn that is more than 100 years old into a milking parlor. Instead of county offices fully staffed with agriculture, child development, economic development and family living agents, the Extension announced that it plans to open regional offices covering multiple counties.

Ag agents that survive the purge will be covering multiple counties and that will likely mean more time traveling and communicating with farmers via email rather than face to face. He said that’s difficult in an age where many farmers still don’t have computers.

Walker is flip-flopping again, in the hopes the following bride, and much-needed help, makes farmers forget:

Walker Proposes $50M In Rural Economic Development: The initiative would include low-interest loans for dairy businesses, more money for state marketing efforts, and a new college scholarship program for students to take agriculture classes at state colleges. Walker announced creation of a $200,000 scholarship fund to encourage students to take agriculture courses at a state technical college or the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture.

Hard Core Rural Conservative voters will Pay more for Health Insurance: I found this health care research unsettling, because it may also apply to other rural government services:

Samuel Trachtman, U of California, Berkeley Abstract: Political scientists have only recently begun paying attention to the ways that individuals’ politics affect their participation in government programs. In particular, it has been shown that Republicans are less likely to enroll in Affordable Care Act marketplace insurance than Democrats ... these decisions are consequential not only for the coverage of individuals, but also for the cost of plans. Due to adverse selection, partisanship-motivated enrollment decisions result in the average Republican enrollee being less healthy than the average Democratic enrollee. I provide empirical evidence demonstrating that insurers have responded to these differences in enrollee composition by increasing prices at a faster rate in areas with more Republican voters. These findings have implications for the design of public policies in an environment where politics can influence uptake decisions.

Just a note:

"I linked this mechanism to political geography, arguing that as insurers receive claims data prices should rise more quickly in areas with more Republicans. To support the hypothesized causal mechanism, I demonstrated a link 29 between county-level Republican vote share and composition of the marketplaces by income, a strong proxy for health status. I then provided evidence of a robust relationship between Republican 2012 vote share and premium growth. The main analysis was corroborated using alternative data, and off-marketplace premium growth was used as a placebo check to support causal identification."