Virginia agriculture is taking some hits. But some sectors are benefiting at the expense of others.
The trade wars are creating a hit for Virginia's soybean industry, which has been rocked by China raising tariffs on soybeans. That's caused soybean inventories to rise and prices to plummet.
Michael Farren at George Mason University's Mercatus Center says Virginia soybean farmers are being harmed by American economic policy.
"And so a tariff, really at the end of the day, is only a political tool. It's a grandstanding attempt to try to say to voters and your constituents that I'm doing something to hurt somebody else," Farren says. "And what you're really doing economically is hurting the people within your own country."
But the trade war has winners and losers in Virginia. Most soybeans are used as food for livestock, so livestock farmers are benefiting from cheaper soybean prices.
Jay Calhoun at the Virginia Cattlemen's Association says sometimes economic policy is a zero sum game.
"One sector usually benefits at the peril of another industry. So the people in Virginia would benefit on someone else's having a loss, and that's just how it has always been. That's how ag has always worked," he explains. "We don't want our neighbors to have bad things happen, but that's usually how our markets change because it's all about supply and demand."
The supply of tariffs is on the ballot this fall, as voters will determine whether they want to continue with the tariffs or demand something else.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
