The Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports, and 20% tariffs on Chinese products Tuesday. For Wisconsin agriculture, experts say dairy farmers will feel the hurt in what they ship out.
“Tariffs make you a little bit nervous when you’re an American farmer,” Hans Breitenmoser said.
Breitenmoser owns a dairy farm in Merrill. “We have about 460 cows.”
He’s not the only one concerned about tariffs.
Polzin and his fellow dairy market experts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension are projecting up to 25% retaliatory tariffs on all U.S. dairy products from Canada, Mexico, and China.
“I don’t think any part of the supply chain is going to be insulated from this,” Polzin said.
Forty percent of the country’s dairy exports went to those three countries last year.
Polzin said a medium-sized farm in Wisconsin with about 250 cattle could see income go down up to $56,000 per year.
“Anything producers can do to manage your risk is a good thing,” he said. “One thing right now is that dairy margin coverage, which is offered through USDA Farm Service Agency, is still open to enroll.”
About 90% of Wisconsin’s dairy is made into cheese.
“About 40% of the cheese exported from the United States moves to Mexico, it’s our number one market,” John Umhoefer said.
Umhoefer, the executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, said right now, there are a lot of unknowns.
“We would hope that this is a temporary situation, and that goals are met through these tactics, and that we don’t see any sort of disruption for a long time,” he said.
Breitenmoser feels the president didn’t factor farmers into account when making this decision.
“When it comes to milk production or making cheese and the economy of the state of Wisconsin, it’s just simply lost on him, how could he know it? And that’s fine,” he said. “But that means getting input from those folks who are in the trenches.”
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