TUCSON, Ariz. -Trade wars and tariffs could hit Arizona farmers and ranchers, but give you a price break on some of the food on your table.
University of Arizona has a farm near River and Campbell where UA trains people for careers in agriculture. The world of agriculture is really feeling the impact of disputes over trade and tariffs.
State figures say the cattle business adds 1.7 Billion dollars to the Arizona economy and all forms of agriculture add 17 Billion.
But now farmers are losing sales because of tariffs countries like China have slapped down to retaliate against US trade penalties.
Elsewhere in the U.S., foreign tariffs slammed sales for some crops so hard, the administration's planning a 12 Billion dollar assistance package for farmers in soybeans, cotton and other crops.
UA’s Food Product and Safety Lab processes beef and gets it ready for sale in the farm's own store. But Professor Sam Garcia knows Arizona cattle businesses have good reason to worry when tariffs make it hard to sell beef to foreign buyers.
“But if we are not allowing our producers to reach certain markets, then we will have an overstock of beef”
KGUN9 reporter Craig Smith asked: “So if foreign buyers are reluctant to buy because the tariffs that affects Arizona?"
Dr. Garcia: "That'll affect Arizona I mean the producer will be affected negatively the consumer will have a cheaper product to buy because there will be quite a bit of it."
But if consumers get a small break farmers and ranchers could take a big hit. UA Professor Russell Tronstad with the university’s program on Agricultural and Resource Economics expects foreign customers to stop buying American and seek out sellers not weighed down by tariffs.
"Once they start those relationships then you have to work to regain those markets so the loss in the marketplace is probably the biggest risk the producers face in terms of regrowing back to where things were."
So even if the tariffs are dropped American producers could still feel their effects for years.
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UA's Food Product and Safety Lab offers meat sales to the general public. You can learn more at this link
