by Robin Kemp
The Republican National Convention kicked off events Monday Aug. 24 with President Donald Trump making a trip to North Carolina to accept the party’s nomination.
The RNC dispensed with its platform process, issuing a statement that it would reuse its 2016 platform.
Trump name-checked former governor and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, claiming that the U.S. just signed its biggest-ever corn and soybean sale to China.
“The great Sonny Perdue is here,” Trump said during a greatest-hits acceptance speech. “Secretary Perdue. Is that right, Sonny? They [China] ordered the largest order of corn in the history of our country twice…. China is very smart….Now I have farmers calling me up. saying, ‘Sir, we love China very much. Please do not be too tough with them.’ It makes it difficult, Sonny,”
While a derecho and drought have impacted corn crops in Illinois and Iowa, the damage was not enough to cut into high yields, according to various agricultural publications.
However, AgWeek reports that China is easing off soybean sales somewhat due to tensions with Washington.
On Sunday, Trump told Fox News, “If Biden is elected, China will own our country,” adding, “There has been no country that has ripped us off more than China….We lose billions, hundreds of billions of dollars. We get nothing from China….All we do is lose money.”
Watch the RNC on C-SPAN: https://www.c-span.org/convention/?party=rnc&day=1598241600
Read more about the grain market at AgWeek: https://www.agweek.com/business/markets/6617589-Markets-move-on-USDA-reports-trade-deals-a-concern
