Robert Smith

One thing I thought was interesting this week is talking to the vendors and seeing how many vendors scaled down the size of their booths.

They got a smaller booth.

Timber Creek, they reduced their booth by almost half.

A lot of places are like, we just don't want to do this big extravaganza anymore, but we want to get a more intimate setting with our true customers.

Part of that is tariffs. Tariffs were mentioned 49 times in the Beige Book, by the way. The president has been slapping tariffs on and then unslapping those same tariffs and then delaying the slap and then doing that thing where you sort of fake a slap and then point and laugh. Ha, ha, ha.

Part of that is tariffs. Tariffs were mentioned 49 times in the Beige Book, by the way. The president has been slapping tariffs on and then unslapping those same tariffs and then delaying the slap and then doing that thing where you sort of fake a slap and then point and laugh. Ha, ha, ha.

Part of that is tariffs. Tariffs were mentioned 49 times in the Beige Book, by the way. The president has been slapping tariffs on and then unslapping those same tariffs and then delaying the slap and then doing that thing where you sort of fake a slap and then point and laugh. Ha, ha, ha.

Quote, a contact in Memphis noted that the current agriculture market was in a worse spot than the same time last year. Contacts noted that tariffs, policy uncertainty, and a lack of clarity regarding farm bill safety nets were negatively impacting the sector. Some farmers also reported having no expectation of profits in the 2025 crop year, and others have gone out of business.

Quote, a contact in Memphis noted that the current agriculture market was in a worse spot than the same time last year. Contacts noted that tariffs, policy uncertainty, and a lack of clarity regarding farm bill safety nets were negatively impacting the sector. Some farmers also reported having no expectation of profits in the 2025 crop year, and others have gone out of business.

Quote, a contact in Memphis noted that the current agriculture market was in a worse spot than the same time last year. Contacts noted that tariffs, policy uncertainty, and a lack of clarity regarding farm bill safety nets were negatively impacting the sector. Some farmers also reported having no expectation of profits in the 2025 crop year, and others have gone out of business.

I know.

I know.

I know.

Zarlan told us that a lot of the farms do a winter wheat that they sell around the world through USAID, the same USAID that's been essentially cut by the Trump administration. So there's a lot of extra grain sitting around.

Zarlan told us that a lot of the farms do a winter wheat that they sell around the world through USAID, the same USAID that's been essentially cut by the Trump administration. So there's a lot of extra grain sitting around.

Zarlan told us that a lot of the farms do a winter wheat that they sell around the world through USAID, the same USAID that's been essentially cut by the Trump administration. So there's a lot of extra grain sitting around.

In fact, Zarlin is changing his plans right now based on the tariffs. Rice, the crop rice, apparently takes a lot of fertilizer to grow. So he's switching to soybeans, which requires a lot less fertilizer. But soybean prices are low.

In fact, Zarlin is changing his plans right now based on the tariffs. Rice, the crop rice, apparently takes a lot of fertilizer to grow. So he's switching to soybeans, which requires a lot less fertilizer. But soybean prices are low.

In fact, Zarlin is changing his plans right now based on the tariffs. Rice, the crop rice, apparently takes a lot of fertilizer to grow. So he's switching to soybeans, which requires a lot less fertilizer. But soybean prices are low.

But Sarlon isn't dwelling on it. When we left him, he was staring at soy prices on his phone again, trying to figure out if he should lock in a price now or gamble on it going up later. Robert Smith.