Feature: Farming through uncertainty -- an American family's struggle amid tariff tensions

Canada Standard

a day ago

by Yang Shilong, Li Xirui, Liu Yanan
ANKENY, IOWA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Corn and soybean sprouts stood about two inches tall as the Griffieons' farm dog, a black Labrador mix named Case, darted across the fields like a black shark slicing through a green sea.
At the Griffieon Family Farm, an over 100-year-old ranch near Ankeny, planting began in mid-April with an even split of corn and soybeans. Each day, Case patrolled the fields, sprinting between rows of young plants before settling down for a nap near the house.
LaVon Griffieon, a veteran farmer and the owner of the farm, said this year's planting and harvest had to factor in tariffs and soaring input costs.
After the United States and China agreed in May to a 90-day pause, Griffieon said she felt a little relief.
But with harvest in October falling outside the "tariff relief window," the prospect remains unclear.
"It got way out of hand," she said of the Trump administration's tariff policies. "He called it on, off, on, off. And then we dragged in Mexico and Canada -- our supposed allies. Nobody can do business in that climate."
With roughly 1,100 acres of row crops and a direct-to-consumer meat business, the Griffieons represent a vanishing breed of diversified, family-run operations. Even with that flexibility, she said the past few years have left her and many others on edge.
"We're right at break-even because we've been in a downturn for three years, as far as markets go," she said.
Farmers, she explained, are facing rising input costs -- fertilizer, fuel, equipment and seed -- while lacking assurance that markets will support their harvest.
"If we don't have China as a customer, I doubt our soybean prices are going to rise," she said. "And once you lose those import fields, someone else takes them."
Under tariff uncertainties, the Griffieons found farming is no longer enough to support the family.
"Equipment is expensive, fertilizer is expensive, seed is expensive," Griffieon's daughter Julia Balbiani said. "And once tariffs hit, they drive the price of everything up. Cost is always a major concern."
She noted how tariffs have already disrupted equipment supply chains. "There are parts -- wiring, tires, chassis -- guaranteed to come from China. When tariffs hit, manufacturers raise prices, and dealerships pass those costs on to us."
Griffieon said tariffs should be more thoroughly debated in Congress and hoped the upcoming midterms might prompt a policy shift. "Somebody's going to have to feel a pinch before he (Trump)'ll change his mind," she said.