Trump's Trade Wars Fuel Amazon Forest Fires

President Trump's Trade Wars are fanning the flames of Amazon Deforestation in Brazil.

The Lungs of the World are belching smoke as Farmers set out after Aug. 10th in a Day of Fires to clear Forest for grazing Cattle and planting Soybeans. The result was more than 10,000 new Fires spreading in the Brazilian Rain Forest, kindled by Drought that drives wildfires raging from Russia to Africa.

Brazilian Deforestation is no act of Non-Government Organizations, as President Jair Bolsonaro absurdly claimed. He ran for President last year exhorting Homesteaders to stake their claim by Cutting or Burning. They scoff at Scientists and Outsiders alarmed that the Planet could cook that much Faster if the main Forest is Torched, and have Openly stated their Goals shielded in Sovereignty.

The number of Fires increased more then 80% this year as the U.S. Trade War with China peaked. The Day of Fires was called just as China declared it would No Longer buy U.S. Agricultural Products. The biggest Import to China was Soybeans. This is part of a Long-Term Development that has seen China invest in Production Capacity in Central and South America to shift its Soy Dependence away from the U.S.

My Daughter's Husband family farms 700 acres of Soybeans and Corn in Illinois.

Brazil is now the Top Exporter of Soybeans to China. It is also building its Beef Export Business in Asia as an African Virus cut the Chinese Hog Heard in half, which will take years to rebuild.

As if the World were not already awash in Soybeans and Corn. Upper Midwest Farmers have watched their Soy Prices Drop by a Third as Presidents Trump and Xi Ratchet up their Rhetoric and Tariffs.

Iowa Soybean Growers carefully cultivated China for Decades to open New Export Markets. Since the days that Nixon Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz commanded Farmers to plant Fencerow to Fencerow to Feed the World. China became Iowa's Top Soy Customer. Then Trump, who said he Loves Farmers, started the Trade Wars with China, Mexico, and Canada.

The Soybeans sit awaiting a better day. The Beef Slaughter Plants are Closed, as action moves to South America's New Frontier. We are growing so much Soy and Corn that the Gulf of Mexico is choking from Excess Fertilizer streaming down the Mississippi River. What we can't feed the Hogs and Poultry we Burn for Ethanol, competing with Brazilian Cane Growers who create Environmental Disasters all their own.

Because of Trade Wars, President Trump has doled out $30 Billion over Two Years in Disaster Payments to make up for Depressed Soybean Markets.

We can't seem to give it away.

It has many Farmers talking with Presidential Candidates about doing things Differently, like Growing Less Corn and Soybeans, and instead Fighting Climate Change by Planting Crops that Capture Carbon while Restoring the Soil.

Yet the Forest Burns, and its Carbon-Capturing Capacity goes up in Smoke.









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