ATR: Tariffs = Farmer Checks and John Deer Layoffs with Blake Hurst

In this week’s Ag Tribes Report, Vance is joined by Missouri farmer and former Missouri Farm Bureau president Blake Hurst. They cover John Deere’s latest layoffs amid a tough farm economy and what this downcycle means for equipment buyers, the Trump team’s floated idea to fund farm aid with tariff revenues (and Blake’s sharp critique of running money “in a circle”), and USDA’s push to expand U.S. ethanol exports to the UK, including a frank debate about mandates, price impacts at the pump, and ethanol as a strategic grain reserve. We also examine concerns from Alberta about immigrant wage subsidies crowding out youth jobs and how labor realities are playing out on U.S. farms, including Blake’s experience with the H-2A program. In the Bitcoin Land Price Report, they discuss volatility versus real assets, stablecoins for cross-border payments, and why instant, low-cost settlement could threaten credit card rails. We close with Blake’s Peter Thiel paradox—why losing some acres to other uses might actually help farmers by tightening supplies—and his broadside against protectionist trade instincts within agriculture. Plus, where to follow Blake’s writing and what’s coming up next on the road in Manhattan, Kansas for the Flinchbaugh Forum. [[show sponsors]]