September 2019: Besieged Michigan farmers back new trade pact with Canada and Mexico

LANSING — One of Michigan’s wettest planting seasons in history forced Doug Darling to leave about two-thirds of his Monroe County farmland unplanted. And the corn, soybeans and wheat he managed to plant in between downpours? He doesn’t expect any of it to grow up normally. The soil moisture wasn’t quite right.

The ripple effects will extend far beyond Darling’s 186-year-old family farm — and they’ll linger for who knows how long in the local economy. With less work in the field, he’s not purchasing parts for his combine or other machinery. He’s not calling for service. He’s maxed out his storage of unused fertilizer (and he’s paying to store more unused supply in Toledo) — meaning he won’t need to contract with local dealers next year. The same goes for the insecticides he typically sprays.

“The economic impact of this is going to be far-reaching and it’s going to last for years,” Darling, who also serves on the Michigan Farm Bureau’s board of directors, told state lawmakers Tuesday at the Michigan State University Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education.

The sixth-generation farmer was among a chorus of industry representatives, academics and government officials to describe widespread hardship and uncertainty in Michigan farm country after record rains and flooding coincided with chaos in agricultural markets that has escalated during President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

The testimony came at a joint hearing of the House and Senate agriculture committees organized by Rep. Julie Alexander, a Republican, who chairs the House agriculture committee and whose family grows corn, soybeans and hay in Hanover Township, outside of Jackson.

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