Fruit growers want trade partners to work tariffs out themselves, not tax their crops

Fruit growers say they have a lot to lose in a trade war. While there appears to be more clarity on the situation, cherry growers hope agriculture does not get caught in the middle.

“You know, our hope is that, so to speak, we get responses from between the United States and Mexico where, if there is going to be some type of trade war, that it’s more about specific products,” said BJ Thurlby, president of the Northeast Cherry Growers Association. “If it’s chips for computers, let’s keep it in the technology world and not turn around and tax apples. You know, that would be a perfect world for us, where we see like industries, if they have issues, let’s let them work it out.”

Thurlby tells aginfo.net that Mexico is an important market for apples, with tens of millions of boxes exported there each year.

Related Stories
Let’s meet FarmHER Katie Hitchcock, a Salinas Valley, Calif.-based sweet baby broccoli producer. She stars in an episode of the FarmHER, which returns to RFD-TV this September.
A five-year-old in Etheridge, Tennessee, lost his life in a grain auger. His mother shares her story to ensure that other farm families do not have to endure that pain. RFD-TV’s own Tammi Arender reports.

LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

Mexico’s tougher, two-step treatment and added checkpoints are catching cases before they can spread—good news for producers near the border.
Despite tariffs having a less significant impact on exports, corn producers struggle with tariff-related increases on inputs, which complicates their bottom line.
Jack Daniel’s will end its Cow Feeder Program, which served around 100 livestock operations near the distillery, and redirect spent grains to its anaerobic digester.
Prepare for acute UAN risk and a brief urea shock; maintain steady ammonia and phosphate plans, and monitor potash basis on the coasts.
Software developers at John Deere Digital are addressing challenges with their new Operations Center, which helps farmers make decisions on the fly.
Agriculture Shows
Hosted by Scott “The Cow Guy” Shellady and RFD News Markets Specialist Tony St. James, Commodity Talk delivers expert insight into the day’s ag commodity markets just before the CME opens. Only on RFD-TV and Rural Radio SiriusXM Channel 147.
A look at the news, weather and commodities headlines that drove agriculture markets in the past week.
Everything profits from prairie. Soil, air, water — and all kinds of life! Learn how you can improve your land with prairie restoration, cover crops and prairie strips, while growing your bottom line.
From soil to harvest. Top Crop is an all-new series about four of the best farmers in the world—Dan Luepkes, of Oregan, Illinois; Cory Atley, of Cedarville, Ohio; Shelby Fite, of Jackson Center, Ohio; Russell Hedrick, of Hickory, North Carolina—reveals what it takes for them to make a profitable crop. It all starts with good soil, patience, and a strong planter setup.