Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
POLITICS<br />
A <strong>2018</strong> farm bill was headed<br />
to a congressional conference<br />
committee to iron out<br />
differences between the Senate<br />
version and a more austere<br />
House-passed bill. U.S. Sen.<br />
Joni Ernst, R-<strong>Iowa</strong>, was<br />
among the conferees charged<br />
with finding a compromise<br />
before the current farm bill<br />
expired Sept. 30.<br />
Renegotiating an “updated”<br />
North American Free Trade<br />
Alliance was also on the<br />
agenda of the Trump Administration,<br />
although talks with<br />
both Canada and Mexico were<br />
ongoing at press time.<br />
And everyone has an opinion<br />
about the ongoing trade<br />
war between the U.S. and its<br />
trading partners around the<br />
world, which has been fought<br />
with a series of tariffs and<br />
retaliatory duties on many<br />
American products, including<br />
agricultural goods that were a<br />
$20 billion business for <strong>Iowa</strong><br />
farmers with China alone in<br />
2017.<br />
With all of those issues<br />
affecting the state’s agribusiness,<br />
what has been the mood<br />
of local farmers?<br />
“The big thing is uncertainty<br />
now,” said Skott Gent, 50,<br />
who farms in eastern Jones<br />
County. “Nervousness and<br />
uncertainty.”<br />
A long-term outlook<br />
While the farm bill will<br />
be resolved within a month,<br />
and NAFTA has been more<br />
political talk than real negotiations,<br />
the developing trade<br />
war is likely to be with us for<br />
a while, according to Dermot<br />
Hayes, a professor of economics<br />
in the College of Agriculture<br />
and Life Sciences at <strong>Iowa</strong><br />
State University.<br />
Hayes, who studies U.S.<br />
farm policy and international<br />
agriculture trade, said the<br />
tariff trade-off was responsible<br />
for the “collapse” in June<br />
of farm prices vital to <strong>Iowa</strong>’s<br />
economy.<br />
REALTOR LEndER ATTORnEy<br />
Prompt and accurate<br />
abstracting can help<br />
ensure a smooth closing<br />
for your clients.<br />
We have a full array<br />
of services to assist you<br />
in your real estate<br />
lending activities.<br />
We will provide prompt and<br />
accurate title evidencing to<br />
guide and advise clients through<br />
the real estate transaction.<br />
• Abstracting<br />
• Oral Lien Search<br />
• Written Lien Search<br />
• Written Lien Search<br />
– Extended<br />
• Pre-foreclosure Search<br />
• Personal and Criminal<br />
Lien Search<br />
• Title Search<br />
• Title Guaranty<br />
Form 900<br />
• Update Report<br />
• Title Guaranty<br />
Form 901<br />
• UCC Searches<br />
• Escrow Closing<br />
Services<br />
• Flood Zone Certificates<br />
AbstrAct & title<br />
Guaranty Company<br />
Abstract & Title Guaranty Company is a full service title company providing property information for Clinton and Jackson Counties including title reports<br />
and abstracts of title, flood zone certificates, UCC searches, personal lien searches, criminal searches and escrow closing services.<br />
326 5th Avenue South | Clinton, iA<br />
563-243-2027<br />
www.AbstrActco.com<br />
115 South 2nD StReet | MAquoketA, iA<br />
563-652-5177<br />
eifarmer.com FALL <strong>2018</strong> | EASTERN IOWA FARMER 129
Change language