Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE 7/23/18

One of Trump tweets on Friday contained misleading statements about the U.S. farm economy, as well as the price of soybeans, as his administration considers imposing even greater tariffs on goods from America's trading partners. Trump said U.S. farmers "have been on a downward trend for 15 years." But this chart, compiled by Bloomberg using data from USDA Economic Research Service, shows how much net farm income has fluctuated dating to 1970.

U.S. farmers in 2013 earned all-time record profits of $123 billion. Since then, though, overall income has been cut in half, primarily because of low commodity prices. In addition, production expenses, like fuel and labor, generally have remained steady.
Soybean soundoff: Trump was correct when tweeting that "the price of soybeans has fallen 50% since 5 years before the Election." However, his following comment — "A big reason is bad (terrible) Trade Deals with other countries. They put on massive Tariffs and Barriers" — is inaccurate.

In 2012, soybean futures skyrocketed (as did other commodity prices) largely because of a drought in the Midwest that hampered production. Economists point to large yields in the U.S. and in South America, not tariffs and trade barriers, as the cause for their latest price decline over the last few years. CHG OK? Or which years were there bumper crops? In addition, soybean prices have plunged since May, when Trump initiated a trade dispute with China, as traders feared a domestic glut could result if exports are cut back.

U.S. soybean exports to China have seen a 136 percent increase over the past decade, according to USDA — data blasted out on Friday by the nonprofit Farmers for Free Trade, which is funded by trade groups.

Canada's dairy tariffs: Trump is correct that Canada charges steep tariffs on U.S. dairy products, though across the board they aren't 275 percent, as he said.

Canada has allowed some U.S. products like fluid milk, cheese and butter to be imported tariff-free. Once the quota is met, the country can charge upward of 298 percent tariffs, though the amount varies by product. Trump also failed to mention that the U.S. ran a $474 million surplus in dairy trade with Canada last year.