Analysis Elections USA
What Joe Biden has in store for American farmers
Joe Biden appears to have almost certainly won the US election and will expel Donald Trump from the White House in January. Although the current president is still very much against it. It is clear that political policy in the US with Biden will change color in the coming years. But what does the new president want with agriculture? Big combines and fat John Deere's don't seem to fit the Democrats.
To start at the beginning, who is Joe Biden anyway? Judging by his age (77), a man brimming with political experience, he had been vice president for 8 years under Obama. Before that, he was a senator for the state of Delaware for decades. Biden is by no means a newcomer. Biden has also been through a lot on a personal level, including his wife and son.
While Trump is bursting with bravado, Biden is more of a moderate man. A tad boring even, so that the contrast with its predecessor will be great in the coming years. Biden will probably be less likely to hit the headlines and responding via Twitter is also less his thing. Unlike Trump, Biden has not made agriculture the focus of his proposed policy. In itself logical, because his voters are mainly in and around the major cities of America. Yet Biden, he points out, wants above all to be a president of all Americans. And so also from the farmers in the Midwest, the agricultural heart of the US that once again turned red on the electoral map.
Vital countryside
How will Biden color agricultural policy? On his website he states that a healthy and vibrant 'Rural America' is important for the success of the country. The Biden-Harris tandem wants to stand up for the interests of farmers, fishers and ranchers. However, this is quite common language that friend and foe alike will agree with. Biden is also committed to employment. Not only in the cities, but especially in the countryside to offer young people economic prospects.
During his campaign, Biden sneered at Trump, noting that rural American jobs have declined in his tenure, while Trump promised the opposite 4 years ago. Biden also pledged to modernize rural America. Every American, including those in rural areas, should have access to the 5G network. Furthermore, the American countryside should above all also be a place for outdoor sports and relaxation. Something many Americans are sensitive to.
Short chains and young farmers
Although agriculture was by no means the spearhead of Biden's campaign, a number of points of view are well known. For example, he is jokingly not a fan of large combines and other machine violence, something Trump finds wonderful. Biden's policy is at odds with the large-scale nature of American agriculture. Biden wants to help family farmers survive in times when agricultural markets are rapidly consolidating and is therefore focusing on short chains.
Biden calls the short chains 'regional food systems'. In these chains, farmers deliver directly to schools, hospitals and other government institutions. This should improve the farmer's position in the chain and the negotiating position. This sounds nice on paper, but the majority of agricultural production the US sells on the world market. Biden also makes a case for young, start-up farmers who, according to him, are having a hard time joining. A concrete plan of his is to double the starting credit from the government for this target group to an amount of $100.000, as a helping hand.
End of trade wars?
Then there are the positions that indirectly rub against agriculture. Take the climate, for example. Biden indicates that he is behind the Paris climate agreement, where Trump distanced himself from it. You can therefore set the clock to the fact that Biden wants to make agriculture greener. The democrat wants to use technology to reduce emissions and fix carbon in the soil, according to his plans. By the way, Joe Biden has indicated during the campaign that he will not conform to the European Green Deal, but he may have done this in order not to deter floating voters.
On the economic front, Biden wants to be less protectionist than the incumbent president. The trade wars, which characterize Trump's policies, don't seem to be up his alley. On the contrary, he wants to strengthen ties with foreign countries, although 'America first' could also count on support from the democratic corner. The trade wars that Trump waged in recent years with China, neighboring Canada and Europe, among other things, hit American grain growers and livestock farmers hard in their pockets. He compensated for the damage with various support programs to ease the pain. As a result, many farmers saw a second Trump term in office just fine, but that party is cancelled.
Lame duck
Now that Biden has almost won, Trump is entering the so-called 'Lame Duck period'. This is the period between the election results and the inauguration of the new president in January. Usually the incumbent president does not make any major changes during that period. Knowing Trump, he will not leave quietly, and it is also questionable whether he will accept his defeat. Biden looks more like a gray mouse compared to Trump's whims, but US policy will change under his leadership. Albeit in a moderate tone and somewhat less via Twitter.
Wouter Job
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