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Quad City farmers react to the possibility of more US imposed tariffs

EAST MOLINE– Farmers at the Rock Island County Fair put in their best bids at the 4-H livestock auction Friday, July 20. Illinois farmer Dennis VanDaele i...

EAST MOLINE-- Farmers at the Rock Island County Fair put in their best bids at the 4-H livestock auction Friday, July 20.

Illinois farmer Dennis VanDaele is a corn and soybean farmer, he says he’s not spending any money during the event. He’s only there to show his support for fellow farmers.

VanDaele says he’s feeling the sting from retaliation for U.S imposed tariffs.

“It’s cost me 50 cents a bushel on about 25,000 bushels of corn …it’s cost me 10,000 to 12,000 dollars,” says VanDaele.

And it may escalate more, the Trump Administration is ready to slap China with half a billion dollars in extra tariffs, driving prices even higher and risking more farm products.

DeAnne Bloomberg from the Rock Island, Illinois Farm Bureau says farmers are used to the ups and downs of the business, but the tariff backlash adds to the hardship.

“This is another economic lesson because what we’re dealing with is supply and demand. When we also pour in that tariff piece it makes it even more pressured on farmers in the Quad Cities,” says Bloomberg.

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