TWO RIVERS (NBC 26) — A dairy farmer weighs in on the Trump tariffs and how it is affecting his farm.
- Russell Strutz has 1,400 cattle just north of Two Rivers, he says it's too early to tell how they will be impacted
- Strutz says that dairy farming has tight margins so it is a bit concerning
- He says that he thinks the tariffs will end with a good outcome
Watch: Two Rivers farmer weighs in on how Trump's tariffs are affecting his farm:
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
President Trump and the United States government continue their trade war with Canada, Mexico and China. This could affect many industries and people even right here in Manitowoc County. I'm chatting with one dairy farmer about the potential impact on his farm and his 1,400 cattle.
Russell Strutz has been dairy farming his whole life.
"It's in your blood,” he said. “I'm out here seven days a week and don't care to have a day off."
Strutz is a fifth generation farmer. In one barn alone, there's 1,000 head of cattle just north of Two Rivers. Like many farmers, Strutz says he's watched the tariffs closely since President Trump took office wondering how it will affect business.
"There's somewhat a concern but it's like what is really going to happen?” said Strutz. "Dairy farming is a lot of that, not knowing what's going to happen in the future."
He says that in the dairy industry, a lot of exports leave the country and it's those exports that support the dairy price. If those exports were to stop it could spell trouble.
"Right, yeah that's concerning,” says Strutz. “Margins on the dairy are not really high, so obviously we are always watching our pennies and cents."
I reached out to a number of dairy farms in Northeast Wisconsin and many tell me it's too early to tell.
Strutz said it's not easy to pinpoint which country's tariffs would hurt the most, but he thinks the tariffs will still result in a good outcome. Regardless he says he's not losing sleep over the issue just yet.
"It's hard to predict what's going to be the outcome when this is all over with,” Strutz said. “It's so difficult, it's unknown."
Strutz says that since so many industries affect agriculture, he's already felt some of their ripples. Around a month ago he was going to have to pay $25 more per ton of hay. 1,400 cattle eat a lot of hay. In that instance, he narrowly avoided the hike due to a delay in the tariff.
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