Agsafe Weekly Rural Report

Finance: The US dollar continues to weaken with the international turmoil created by Trumps tariff policy – see Rant below. Brent Crude remains low at around $65.72/barrel.
Wool: Wool prices The Government government buildings should prefer woollen carpets – good start but need more action!!
Beef, Sheep & Venison schedules: Meat schedules are steady with strong demand for red meats especially the manufacturing beef in the USA. Venison prices are good, lamb & beef schedules are OK with predictions there will be some increase coming.
Dairy Prices. Dairy prices are strong. If you are a Fonterra supplier make sure your Co-Operative Difference is on track..

You can hear us live on the radio on Monday morning at 7.35 am with Brian Kelly on Country Sport Breakfast – Radio NZ Gold AM. 792 AM in the Waikato & 1332 AM in Auckland.

Jim’s Weekly Rant:
We are all trying to understand Donald Trump – here is a different view that has credibility!!
This is Kevin McCullough’s piece - a columnist in an American publication – Townhall.com. I have made minor editing changes. It is a Middle-American view on the tariffs & is different from what we hear. It is important that we all try and understand better what is happening and why. A closed or narrow view on anything never provides the answer. The underlying premise in the paper is about national security something NZ struggles with as we are at the mercy of obtaining resources from others, some friendly & some not. Remember we were at the bottom of the heap & of the world for the supply of Covid vaccines & our fuel supplies are dependent on others & shipping.

“The fearmongers are out again being the same cast of characters who never lifted a finger when American workers were being gutted by so-called "free trade" deals are now shouting "recession!" because Donald J. Trump dared to say: No more. What they don’t want you to notice is what’s actually happening. In just a few short weeks since President Trump re-imposed tariffs on nations that have—for decades—been bilking American consumers, workers, and businesses, more than 50 countries have either begun discussions or formally requested negotiations to avoid these tariffs. That’s not a sign of a policy failure. That’s not an indicator of economic collapse. That’s not the start of a recession. That is, rather clearly, what success looks like. Trump Isn’t Starting a Trade War—He’s Ending One. It’s important to remember that Trump’s tariffs aren’t the start of a trade war—they’re the first shots fired by an American president who actually intends to end one. For too long, the U.S. has been the punching bag in a one-sided global slugfest. From NAFTA to the WTO, we were told these agreements were all about "free trade," when in fact they were the Trojan horses of economic surrender. The USA gave access to their markets and they gave nothing back. The USA played by the rules while the others cheated—on currency, on labour, on environmental regulations, and on outright intellectual theft. And every administration—Democrat and Republican—rolled over and played dead. Every administration, that is, except for this one. President Trump’s trade strategy is not about tariffs. It’s about not needing to use them. The tariffs are the bat in the corner of the room—clean, polished, and ready to swing if necessary. And guess what? The sight of that bat has 50-plus countries suddenly developing a taste for compromise. The “recession” crowd has been running their mouths on every cable network and opinion page since the moment Trump announced his new tariff regime. They’d have you believe that we’re one import tax away from bread lines and soup kitchens. These people are either stupid—or they think you are. The same economists and pundits who cheered the outsourcing of your job to Shanghai, the closing of the USA factory in Michigan, and the importing of goods made with near-slave labour now want you to panic because the United States finally said, "We’d rather not be ripped off anymore." What these hysterics conveniently ignore is the immediate result of Trump’s tough talk: foreign governments blinking. They’re not retaliating—they’re negotiating. They’re not slapping tariffs of their own—they’re asking how they can remove theirs. They’re not threatening war—they’re bringing olive branches. That doesn’t sound like the start of a recession. That sounds like leverage. And in the world of global economics, leverage is everything. Let’s get honest about the buzzwords. "Free trade" sounds like a good thing—until you realize it’s been anything but free for the American people. It hasn’t been free for the manufacturing worker who saw his plant moved to Mexico. It hasn’t been free for the small farmer who couldn’t compete with imported products subsidized by foreign governments. It hasn’t been free for the American consumer who buys cheap goods from overseas, only to pay the hidden cost of job losses, wage stagnation, and social decay. And it certainly hasn’t been free for the American taxpayer, who’s left holding the bag for job training programs, food assistance, and the cost of hollowed-out towns turned into economic wastelands. "Free trade" has been a cruel joke—free for China, free for Vietnam, free for India, but never free for the American citizen. What Trump is doing isn’t complicated. He’s telling the world what every good businessperson already knows: If you want access to the best market on Earth, play fair. No more stealing technology. No more dumping underpriced goods. No more manipulating currency. No more child labour. No more turning a blind eye to human rights abuses just so you can get 3-cent widgets. You want to trade with us? Great. But the door doesn’t swing just one way anymore. This isn’t a revolution—it’s just common sense. The kind that D.C. elites have spent a generation trying to erase from the American mind. The tariff talk was never about protectionism—it was about preparation. Trump doesn’t want to use tariffs. He wants to not need to. But in order to reach that point, you have to prove you’re willing to. And here’s the kicker: It’s working. The proof is in the panic overseas—and the panic in the press rooms. The countries that took advantage of the USA generosity are now realizing the good times might be over. They’re coming to the table. And the very fact that they’re coming—some on their knees—is all you need to know about whether this strategy is working. The media and their pet economists can cry “recession” all they want. They said the same thing in 2017. Then again in 2018. They said the tax cuts would destroy the economy. They said the stock market would tank. They said inflation would spiral. They said peace deals in the Middle East were impossible. They were wrong then. They’re wrong now. The American people don’t owe the world their markets. They don’t owe them our jobs. They don’t owe them their economic future. For the first time in decades, The USA has a president who understands that trade is a two-way street. And if the world doesn’t want to play fair, the USA has a tool in their back pocket that makes them rethink their entire strategy. That’s not reckless. That’s responsible. And if the bat never needs to be swung—if all it takes is for the world to see it resting there in Trump’s grip—then these tariffs will have done exactly what they were supposed to do: Deliver maximum good—by never even being used.

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