September 11, 2019
Trade wars hit home
How one Garrison business is recovering
BY DIANE NEWBERRY
The fields and small towns of rural North Dakota can feel insulated, nestled cozily in the heartland of North America, characterized by pick-up trucks, American flags and little league teams.
But the reality is, much of the agricultural business that helps fuel the region relies heavily on exports. And that means relying heavily on the whims of unpredictable foreign powers and on trade and innovation wars that seem so far away from our big sky and small communities.
One local business, JM Grain, with offices in Garrison and Great Falls, Mont. dealt with the harsh ebbs and flows of the foreign market firsthand last summer, when after 18 years in the business the pulse crop sellers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“Tariffs had a lot to do with pullback in our business,” Justin Flaten, one of the owners, said. “We’re a casualty of these trade wars.”
According to Flaten, the pulse industry was booming until November of 2017 with growth both in the domestic market and in the much-larger export market. Exports make up 70 to 75 percent of the U.S. pulse market and sudden tariffs imposed by India shocked the industry.
But the reality is, much of the agricultural business that helps fuel the region relies heavily on exports. And that means relying heavily on the whims of unpredictable foreign powers and on trade and innovation wars that seem so far away from our big sky and small communities.
One local business, JM Grain, with offices in Garrison and Great Falls, Mont. dealt with the harsh ebbs and flows of the foreign market firsthand last summer, when after 18 years in the business the pulse crop sellers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“Tariffs had a lot to do with pullback in our business,” Justin Flaten, one of the owners, said. “We’re a casualty of these trade wars.”
According to Flaten, the pulse industry was booming until November of 2017 with growth both in the domestic market and in the much-larger export market. Exports make up 70 to 75 percent of the U.S. pulse market and sudden tariffs imposed by India shocked the industry.
