Strong Dollar Impact

Now in the last 12 months Sipiorski points out that China has already devalued their currency 5 times, so that should be telling us something. He said they are very concerned about their exports and are trying to limit their imports which obviously is a factor for us as well. Bottom line, ag exports are down and will remain so for a while. Also exports are being pressured by our strong dollar, while imports are becoming more attractive. A worst case scenario as price is being influenced more and more by the world markets. So Sipiorski says we can expect dairy stocks to rise into the 4th quarter and if we don’t see good pre-holiday demand milk prices will be pressured beyond the first quarter of 2016
In another conversation I had with with state Ag Secretary Ben Brancel, he confirmed that after a decade of rising export business we have hit a snag in 2015. And again the biggest hurdle is an unstable world economy with a strong U.S Dollar. Brancel admits the trends are not favorable to exports but quickly added that this is just motivating his agency to work harder. The secretary admits this will be a softer export year, but that Wisconsin has momentum moving from a ranking of 17th to 12th in Ag export sales.
Brancel says while sales may be down, relationships continue to grow and he is confident we are building the foundation to even greater market share on the international ag market.