USDA pulls employees off of Midwest crop tour following threat

In Illinois, Bloomberg reports that following a telephone threat made to a USDA employee, allegedly related to escalating tensions in farm country due to President Trump’s continuing policy shifts that are jeopardizing the ag economy such as the recent approval of 31 hardship waivers and the ongoing trade war with China, the USDA decided to pull its employees off of a Midwest crop tour. Crop prices fell sharply last week following USDA production estimates that were much higher than expected considering wet weather that kept millions of acres from being planted or disrupted them during their early growth stages.