Officials react to ongoing tariff situation, federal promise of aid to farmers

Calhoun County recently received a $15,000 check from Iowa Select Farms to offset the cost of repairing damage to a B-Level county road near a proposed sow confinement.
The payment is to help with the cost of upkeep and maintenance of the road during construction, Calhoun County Engineer Zac Anderson told the Board of Supervisors July 24.
“They’re getting close to being able to start actual constructions,” Anderson said.
The payment should go a long way to making sure the county doesn’t bear the cost of fixing any problems construction causes, he told the supervisors.
Discussion of the check then veered to supervisors’ surprise that Iowa Select was continuing to build the new operation, considering the current state of the pork market and the agriculture economy following the implementation of tariffs on American-grown goods headed to China.
Supervisor Mike Cooper said he was wondering what the trade war, which has escalated in the past few months as President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on Chinese-made goods, which prompted that nation to impose the tariffs on American goods, would do to companies such as Iowa Select.
Read more in the Aug. 1 edition.