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Outlaw: lost export markets and Brazil competition add pressure

An ag economist with Texas A&M University says the challenges facing U.S. agriculture go beyond low prices and high input costs.

Joe Outlaw says getting lost export markets back won’t be easy.

“We have more competition from Brazil than we’ve ever had from any other country because they are very low cost. And while they’re not as big as we are, they don’t have the domestic market that we do, so they export a lot. And so, that competition is something we haven’t ever faced. It’s mainly on corn and beans and cotton.”

He says U.S. policy has focused heavily on trade, but the strategy depends on consistent global demand and that’s not a guarantee. He says the uncertainty weighs on farmers.

“If I’m a producer sitting out here, all I care about is when can I make money? It’s coming, because it always comes. I can’t tell you how, I can’t tell you why, but it’s coming. And you either hold on, or you move on to something else.”

Outlaw also says agriculture is facing more severe economic and personal stress than many realize and a lot of it is happening quietly. 

Outlaw was a speaker at the Abner Womack Conference in mid-Missouri.