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Our Addiction to Fast Shipping Has a Hidden Cost

Written by adminJuly 18, 2019

Yesterday, we wrote an article that talked about how convenience is king. The company that can offer the best convenience is often going to win the sale. The article discussed how Walmart is moving to in-home grocery delivery, even to the point of putting your groceries away for you. This is a major convenience that most people could use in their busy lives.

There are other conveniences that we often take a lot of advantage of. One of those options is free two-day shipping when we make a purchase on Amazon or Walmart. We love that free two-day shipping because it means we get our package sooner. If it’s one thing we don’t like to do, it’s waiting for something we bought to arrive.

This is an advancement that continues to grow. Other companies are trying their best to catch up with Amazon by also offering free two-day shipping. Of course, with Amazon you are required to have a Prime subscription. As these other companies catch up, Amazon is forced to make some major decisions of their own. They need to stay ahead of the game any way they can.

That’s why in May, Amazon announced that they would soon be offering one-day and same-day delivery. It’s a race to see who can offer the most convenience to their customers by building the better network and getting packages to them the soonest. Walmart is following suit by also offering one-day free shipping. Target is also starting to do the same.

The Major Cost of Fast Shipping

While we certainly enjoy having this convenience at her disposal, and companies fighting for our attention makes life easier for us, there’s a major disadvantage to the environment that happens when we try to rush our purchases to our homes. This is a major cause that most people don’t even realize when I order something online. This is leaving companies to walk a fine line between giving customers what they want and being careful.

“The time in transit has a direct relationship to the environmental impact,” says Patrick Browne, director of global sustainability at UPS. “I don’t think the average consumer understands the environmental impact of having something tomorrow vs. two days from now. The more time you give me, the more efficient I can be.”

It was in 2017 when UPS found out that the e-commerce boom was forcing them to decrease the number of packages it will drop off per mile. Making deliveries is certainly more efficient we can pack more stuff into a single truck. But our demand for fast shipping forces more trucks on the road to better coordinate the different things that we buy.

Insufficient Routes

If you can imagine for a second how much it costs for you to order to products. Both of those products are completely different places. One may be much closer to you and the other clear across the country. It is in Amazon’s job to coordinate getting both of those products at the same time and within shipping parameter you chose.

This is very expensive for the shipper to do. We don’t often understand these costs because those costs aren’t being transferred to us. They’re offering free shipping as a means of keeping our business, which means we don’t have a true understanding of the full financial and environmental impact it truly has.

“There are some companies that can absorb the cost,” Jaller says. “One of them — it’s one of the largest ones — has been absorbing the logistic cost for a while. And it’s in the billions of dollars per year.” Of course, the company mentioned here is Amazon. They can eat the costs, still offer free shipping, but improving on that is going to require that they improve their infrastructure.

That’s exactly what Amazon is doing. At the same time that they’ve announced their free one-day shipping, they’ve also announced an $800 million investment into improving their logistics infrastructure. That means more trucks on the road, more fulfillment centers closer to population centers across the country, and even improving their drone delivery service.

Amazon’s Statement

When asked whether Amazon was harming the environment by offering free one-day shipping, they said no. In fact, they believe by improving their logistics and revamping their shipping process, they can give their customers what they want while at the same time protecting the environment. They made a statement about this.

“Prime Free One-Day is possible because we’ve been building our network for over 20 years,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “This allows Amazon to work smarter based on decades of process improvement and innovation, and to deliver orders faster and more efficiently.” And that is the ultimate goal. Fixing the problem so it doesn’t harm the environment.

There are a few other proposed solutions, including letting customers feel the full impact of their decision. If you want the fast shipping, having to brunt the cost of it will make more people choose differently. One option, as one of the largest retailers in Mexico tried, was revealing the environmental impact of their two-day shipping.

They had a green option available and the two-day, but the two-day showed how many trees would need to be cut down to fulfill their order. They found that 52% of people chose the green option when confronted with the impact of their decision. While it might work to some degree, convenience will continue to be king. But should we pass on the cost of this burden to customers? Would we be willing to give up convenience if it helped the environment?

“If they paid the true price of that delivery, they would ask themselves if they really needed it sooner,” says Goodchild. “I think that the fundamental idea of really paying for what it cost in terms of traffic congestion and emissions is something we don’t do right now. The more we did, the more balance there would be in what people are asking for and what people are willing to buy.”

Written by adminJuly 16, 2019

Business

As the head of your company, your job is valuable. You make all the creative decisions and take care of the day-to-day operations. But sometimes, you get a bit busy. Not only are you in charge of all the high-value stuff that keeps the wheels rolling, but there’s also administrative tasks that often get you behind.

If you find yourself too busy to take on all that tasks required, that can be a good thing. You’re growing. But it also means you need to hire someone to take on the extra burden so you can continue to head up doing what you love to do.

The only issue is, hiring a virtual assistant is like hiring any other employee. There are good ones and bad ones. When it’s good, a virtual assistant can be an incredible member of your team. When they’re bad, they can set you back in both time and money. So if you want to find a rock star virtual assistant, here are several tips that can lead to a successful hire.

1) Make sure you’re ready to hire someone.

A lot of virtual assistant disasters happen because the business owner wasn’t truly ready. They wanted some help, but had a lot of expectations for their new assistant to come in right away and know the job. If you can’t afford to take the time to properly train them, what exactly can they do? You’re handcuffing them to a few menial tasks. Have a good idea of what you want them to do. Take notes on your daily activities so you can easily decide what should be outsourced and what shouldn’t.

2) Have a training system in place.

It’s been proven that having a system in place makes businesses run more smoothly. Yes, you’ll have to take more time up front to develop that system, but once it’s in place, you’ll save time and money in the long run by having it. You create it once and hand it off to others to train in your stead.

3) Hire like you mean it.

The truth is, a virtual assistant might be one of the most important positions in your company. The sad thing is, you might run into a lot of bad ones. So don’t set aside ten minutes for a Skype call before hiring someone. If you were going to hire a big time web developer, do you give them a little attention before bringing them on board?

No. You’ll take the time, review their qualifications, see past work, among other things, to make sure you’re not wasting your money on a hack. And as I said, there are plenty of bad workers out there who will set you back and lose you money if you don’t take the hiring process seriously.

Hiring a virtual assistant can potentially be the most important position in your company. If you have someone else to take on the administrative jobs, it can potentially change everything, especially if you have more time to create and do what you do best. Take your time, do your research, develop a system, and hire the best virtual assistant you can find.

Written by adminJuly 16, 2019

Loans , Student Loan Consolidation

If you’re one of the 44 million Americans who have student loans, it may seem like you’ll never be able to pay it off. It can be an insurmountable amount of money totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars. The average amount of student loan debt Americans have is around $28,000. That will take them as long as 10, even 20 years to pay off.

This is causing a lot of problems and so many people’s lives. It even impacts the economy as it prevents young people from making major life decisions. It’s making them decide to put off getting married, having children, buying a car, or even getting a mortgage. There unable to buy health insurance or save for retirement.

The impact of the $1.53 trillion owed was going to be felt for a very long time. The economy might be thriving right now, but having this much debt as caused major recessions in the past. At some point, the bubble might burst. And while many people are sitting around and waiting for politicians to create a fix, there are things you can do right now to help yourself.

Here are five tips for paying off your student loans faster:

1) Don’t Just Pay the Minimum Balance

The minimum balances there for a reason. If you could pay less, then of course you would. At that point, it would take even longer for you to pay off your debt. We definitely would like to have more money in our pockets, but that’s not going to happen until we pay off our debt. That debt is going to stick with us until it’s paid off. You cannot declare bankruptcy and get rid of this debt. By avoiding it, you’re only making the situation worse in your life. Instead, take responsibility for your debt. Pay it off as quickly as possible. That’ll actually lower the interest will be expected to pay for the lifetime of your debt. Interest alone can add thousands to your total, so limiting that while paying it off quicker will help you in the long run.

2) Set a Payoff Date for Motivation

Whether you decide you’re going to pay more than the minimum balance each month, do a little bit of math and figure out exactly the date when you finish paying off your debt. Use that data as motivation moving forward. Might even think that the date is too far off and make the wise choice to beat the date and pay it off sooner.

3) Check into Refinancing

Listen, if you’ve had your debt for a while and you’ve had a great track record of paying it off without taking on more debt, you could get your debt refinanced. When you graduated college, you probably didn’t have a great credit score. That means monthly payments or higher, as is the interest you’ll be expected to pay. But if you improved your credit score, that will certainly help you to refinance and get a lower interest and monthly payment. Lower interest means you’ll pay it off sooner.

4) Check Out How Each Payment is Applied

When you make monthly payments, you might think every dollar is going toward your loan. It’s not. This is how the lenders make their money. A big chunk of your payment goes towards the interest, not the principal. That means you’re paying off your student debt even slower than you realize. This is why it’s important to pay more each month, as the more you pay, the more you’ll pay down the principal amount.

5) Avoid Forbearances

There may come a time when you think the best course of action is to get a forbearance. Forbearance will allow you to hold off on making payments for certain time without impacting your credit score or putting you into default. While there may come a time when you desperately need a forbearance, it’s never a good idea, especially if you do it for a long period of time. Even while you’re on forbearance, your debt will still collect interest and grow during that time. Always pay something, even if things are financially tight.

Written by adminJuly 11, 2019

Entertainment

Just when it seemed like Disney and Marvel had everything going for, they risk losing one of their biggest franchises. As fans, we’ve been excited for Spider-Man: Far From Home for quite some time. Little did we know, that there’s a lot riding on this film if it’s going to stay in the right hands: Marvel Studios.

The Ankler is an entertainment magazine that has claimed the rights to Spider-Man might revert back to Sony if the film doesn’t clear $1 billion in sales. The Ankler revealed that this is the deal that Marvel has with Sony. Apparently, there’s a certain sales threshold that must be met in order for the film to stay with Marvel. If they want to do a third movie, then they’re really putting a lot on this one film.

This Spider-Man has had a major role in the Avengers storyline, including sharing screen time with major Marvel characters, like Iron Man. It has been a great run so far with Marvel once again making Spider-Man movies. But, “Far From Home” is being threatened as the last Marvel-produced Spider-Man movie.

“The original Sony/Marvel/Spidey deal to co-produce these movies stipulated that if this Spidey cleared a billion, Marvel would get to oversee a third,” Richard Rushfield writes. “If it hadn’t, full control would have reverted back to Sony.” So far, the numbers are looking good. In its first weekend, “Far From Home” made over $600 million and is on pace to beat the $1 billion expectation before it makes it out of theaters.

The Disney/Marvel/Sony Deal

If “Far From Home” crosses that billion dollar threshold, it appears as if there deal would include one more co-produced solo Spider-Man movie. So far, they’ve produced two solo movies together which were distributed by Sony Entertainment. Disney distributed three more movies that had the Tom Holland Spider-Man character in it.

The Tom Holland Spider-Man made his debut with the MCU not with his own movie, but as part of Captain America: Civil War. It was a major surprise to see Spidey show up in that film, but it was just a taste of what was to come. He appeared in all of the Infinity Saga Avenger movies as well, so Marvel and Disney have made great use of the character, regardless of if “Far From Home” crosses the $1 billion mark.

While we sit back and wonder about the future of this franchise, still very possible that the rights to Holland’s Spider-Man revert back to Sony anyway. Venom was a box-office success and the plan moving forward might be to bring the two together. That would be quite the natural move for Sony to make. Especially when you consider Sony has rights to other villains from the same roster, such as Kraven, Morbius, and Nightwatch.

Written by adminJuly 11, 2019

Business

It’s been more than 10 years since the Great Recession, are the good times coming to an end?

We are in the longest bull run in the American economy since WW2. Historically it is only a matter of time before the market recedes. As the unemployment rate bottoms out at 4%, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke predicts the government’s current fiscal stimulus package will boost the current economy but might send us “off the cliff in 2020”.

Many investors today are unaware of alternative options for investment that are not ties to the stock market. These options should be considered as new additions to portfolios to stem the ebbs and flows of the broader economy.

Call Now 844-332-2079

Here are 5 strategies to consider when looking at putting your money elsewhere other than the stock market:

1) Rental and Seasonal Properties

The high costs of home ownership have led to a boom in people renting properties, so purchasing a second property can be a great way to boost your finances.

Rental investments can be a quick way to generate returns. The downside will be having to be a landlord and handle maintenance and tenants, but there are property managers for that.

It’s also a good way to build equity especially if you’re in a market that has a high demand for rentals and vacation properties. You would also have to set up your own payback model to recoup your investment.

Set-up: Difficult
Time commitment: High
Investment required: Moderate ($20,000 to $100,000)
How: Self-research

2) Commercial Property

The approach to this is similar to that of rental properties, but in this case, you are buying into properties like a strip mall or a one-two star hotel. The initial investment is steep, and there will be the issue of screening potential partners for reliability and expertise.

But the potential returns mitigate the risks, as you are looking at a 6% to 12% return based off your initial investment of time and capital as compared to the 1% to 4% return on the single family home.

Set-up: Difficult
Time commitment: Moderate
Investment required: High ($250,000+)
How: Self-research

3) Franchise chain

Consider investing in a single franchise or a few successful chains, like a Subway. The franchise investment could earn you a 15% to 15% return on investment if the growth trends continue the way they have been for the past year.

To get started on this, sign up for a franchising trade show. The potential drawback is that for your investment to be worthwhile, you may have to purchase more than one franchise, which means a larger initial investment and additional time spent finding the right partners.

Set-up: Difficult
Time commitment: Moderate to high (if self-run)
Investment required: High ($50,000 to $1 million)
How: Self-research

4) Peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding

These online platforms enable borrowers to connect with a wide range of lenders including yourself instead of having to rely on banks for financing. The borrowers are usually individuals or small businesses. generating a return of 8% to 12% on average.

By industry expert estimates, the industry is rapidly expanding. Most platforms focus on consumer lending, and you have to keep up to date with credit cycles and interest rate fluctuations.

Set-up: Easy
Time commitment: Short
Investment Required: Low ($5000+)
How: Online platform

5) Alternative Lending

If you’re looking for an easy investment that requires less time and energy spent, look no further than specialty finance products. Examples such as real estate, commercial loans and even certain legal settlements can yield upwards of 8% to 20% returns.

In the past, these investments were reserved for investors with ultra-high net worth and large banks. Nowadays, platforms like YieldStreet offer investment opportunities to retail investors in real estate, litigation financing and consumer lending.

Set-up: Easy
Time commitment: Short
Investment required: Low ($5000+)
How: Online platform

Start Today

There are many diverse options that exist outside the stock market for the savvy investor to get into. The only obstacle is to learn about them in online marketplaces and then start immediately.

If you would still like to talk to a professional the Financial Helpers are always ready to assist you.

Call Now 844-332-2079

Written by adminJuly 8, 2019

Business

For the past few years, it would seem as if Amazon got all the great press. Every holiday season, they took a larger chunk out of the pockets of retail stores. They were winning the war and forcing several big names to decide to close their doors for good.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, wasn’t going to sit back and let it happen. They saw their own profits start to dwindle and decided to jump in the online market to compete. And compete they did!

One retail expert was quoted by Fox Business as saying that Walmart has finally put an end to Amazon’s dominance. Not just by revamping their ecommerce, but also through updating their stores.

We’ve previously reported that one of the main reasons why Amazon was able to put Toys ‘R Us out of business was because they weren’t able to catch up. Their stores were outdated and they had no online game. Walmart read the signs and decided to do something about it.

At the end of the day, Walmart has lower prices. When you can do the same thing as your competitors, but do it cheaper, you’re going to win. Simple as that.

Putting a heavy emphasis on its newer, better website, Walmart was able to bump sales up 33% in the first quarter of this year. They also acquired other online retailers, such as Jet.com and Flipkart, to help increase their visibility in countries like India.

It’s not just online sales that have been bolstered. Reports reveal that more Americans have been flocking to the stores with in-store sales rising 2.6% as well. According to Burt Flickinger, managing director at Strategic Resource Group, it’s all about American Patriotism. Walmart knows its customer base and is winning them over.

It’s All About Patriotism

“They are winning on patriotism. You’ve never seen so much patriotism in terms of action alley. There are U.S. flags on every shelf, every merchandising aisle. It stimulates pride and people. They are buying more and Walmart is laying waste to the rest of U.S. retail,” he said.

“Walmart is going to beat Amazon on land and with Flipkart and with Jet, Walmart’s going to start winning even more online.”

It remains to be seen how this will all play out. It was all but a sure thing that Amazon would eventually edge out all competitors and take the number one retail spot, but defeating Walmart won’t be that easy.

Now with Amazon raising the prices of Prime as much as 20%, even after recording record-high profits, it might just be enough to get people off the computer and back into brick-and-mortar…especially if the prices are right.

As we come off the July 4th holiday, you’d think of the fireworks, parades, and BBQs, but Walmart is also a part of that small-town community charm while Amazon is still just a website. Maybe there’s room for both to fight head-to-head, but Walmart certainly has come back from behind.

Written by adminJuly 3, 2019

Design , Real life

Talk about being the place where you can get anything you want shipped directly to your home – with free delivery! Think of all the sales Amazon has made the customers over the years. The online retail giant cells just about everything and now you can even buy your very own home for relatively cheap price.

Tiny homes have dramatically risen in popularity lately. HGTV started their own TV programs dedicated to his new trend of tiny homes. The National Association of Home Builders even released a survey that stated 53% of people who are pulled said that they would consider buying one for their family to live in.

It would appear as if the younger generations are looking to shed off all of their material possessions. They experienced their parents enduring the great recession that caused many homes to be foreclosed on. It was a dark period in American history that still impacts the housing market to this day. Many millennials are still living at home with their parents.

Now, if you’re interested in buying a tiny log cabin, you can buy one on Amazon for less than $20,000. In fact, the Lillevilla Allwood Cabin Kit Getaway sells for about $18,000 and will be delivered to your home with free shipping. This tiny cabin was designed to function as a small summer home or even a stand-alone retail business, like a food truck without the truck.

The Popularity of Tiny Homes

There was a smaller cabin that sold for $7,250 on Amazon. It sold out after news broke and went viral. Apparently, this Allwood Solvalla is back in stock and ready for purchase. If you want something larger, go for the $18,000 Lillevilla. But this all goes to show just how much the housing market has changed since the great recession.

“I’m not surprised to see [Amazon selling homes],” said Trae Bodge of TrueTrae.com. “Selling these homes online presents a new level of opportunity for the retailer to reach consumers who are outside of their local area.”

Of course, Amazon isn’t the first retail store to sell homes. Back in the day, Sears was the largest retailer in the country and sold homes through its famous catalog. These small home kits are shipped wherever you want to be shipped and come with blueprints and directions needed to construct the home yourself, which usually takes a couple of days.

It’s estimated that Sears sold as many as 75,000 homes through their catalog. So, whether you’re looking to build a new office, a few spare rooms, or even just want to have a place to escape from our materialistic world, you can have peace and tranquility for less than $20,000 in a few days’ work of building your new tiny log cabin.

Written by adminJuly 3, 2019

Student Loan Consolidation

When we talk about the student loan debt crisis, you’d think of average everyday citizens fighting to survive. This is true, but this issue hits a lot of people really hard, even middle-class and some we’d consider ‘wealthy.’ Recently, it was found out that even presidential candidates can hold student loan debt.

Pete Buttigieg is one of the Democratic party’s darlings so far. He’s married to his husband Chasten Glezman. As part of his filings to become an official presidential candidate, Buttigieg had to file a financial disclosure. The Office of Government Ethics takes this information and makes it public for those who are interested in how much candidates and politicians are making.

With this filing, it revealed that Buttigieg and Glezman owe together between $110,000 and $265,000. His campaign spokesman, Chris Meagher, actually stated that the exact total of student loan debt they hold is $131,296. This means if Buttigieg is elected president, he won’t just be the first gay president, but also the first to hold student loan debt while in office.

Political Points

Buttigieg hasn’t hidden the fact that he has student loans from constituents. He’s actually been pretty open about it. He’s told his story about graduating from Harvard in 2004, winning a Rhodes scholarship, and later graduating from Oxford in 2007. Most of the debt between them, though, comes from Glezman who has a lot of debt getting his master’s degree.

Having student loan debt makes Buttigieg a sympathetic figure in the Democratic party. This has been a hot-button issue over the past few years. They’re just one of 44 million Americans who owe $1.53 trillion. This is the most recent data according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The figures are set to be updated this fall.

Buttigieg is one of several other Democrats who have laid out their ideas on fixing the student loan debt problem here in the United States. President Trump hasn’t done much of anything towards helping to battle the epidemic at all. His approach is strategic in his own way. He says the burden shouldn’t be passed on to taxpayers to pay for people to go to college.

That’s a personal decision you make, you should pay for it. But the Democratic party is listening to the growing outrage of the younger generation. They’re leaving college with mountains of debt and screaming for help. Many of them demand free tuition, even saying it’s their right to go to college debt-free.

Buttigieg says he wants to expand the Pell grant, add more help towards the Public Service Student Loan program, and offer more assistance to lower-class families under debt. Moving forward, he also wants to offer a ‘zero tuition’ for low-and-middle class families when going to public school.

Written by adminJuly 3, 2019

Insurance

If you’re young to middle aged, you might be worried about the stories coming from Washington. You’re not sure if you’ll ever get the chance to retire when you want to. They keep talking about how social security is quickly running out of money. Yet, you keep plugging away, saving as much as you can for when the time comes.

It’s said that social security is set to run out of money by 2034. That’s not really a long time away, especially or most of us who still have another 10-30 years before we retire. When we do, can we expect there to be no money for us? Well, it appears as if government finally has a plan.

There’s currently a bi-partisan plan supported by both parties. It’s called the Social Securities 2100 Act. Many people are excited about this legislation for several reasons. The main reason is, it fixed the problem and ensures there’s still money in social security for all of us when we finally retire.

“Assuming enactment of the proposal, we estimate that the combined Social Security Trust Fund would be fully solvent (able to pay all scheduled benefits in full on a timely basis) throughout the 75-year projection period under the intermediate assumptions of the 2018 Trustees Report,” said the current Social Security Administration head Stephen Goss.

Details of the Plan

You might think that extending the life of Social Security means cutting people’s benefits. But you’d be wrong. The bill wants to keep all the different benefits the program offers, but even offer more to people. That’s right, the bill aims to increase Social Security benefits by about 2%. Consider that a cost-of-living increase as life becomes more expensive.

But, as you might’ve guessed, in order to keep Social Security alive and pay for the benefit increases, it will require upping the tax. It’s actually not a giant leap. The bill would increase the Social Security payroll tax from 6.2% to 7.4% for both the employer and employee. Before getting frustrated over this increase in the tax, consider these facts.

First, the 1.2% increase is spread out over 24 years and it would increase your benefits by 2%. Any given year, that increase would be about .05%, so you won’t really feel any hurt in your paycheck. It’s a very minimal tax that you will barely see that ensures that Social Security is alive and well when it’s time to retire.

Most people would be okay with this law, which is why it’s popular in both the House and the Senate. Thankfully the government can agree on something during this time of gridlock. It benefits all Americans and is a program we will all need in the decades to come.

Written by adminJuly 3, 2019

Real life

If you’re a farmer in the United States, 2019 hasn’t been that good to you. Farmers all across this country are fighting a war being waged on two fronts. This war should concern every single one of us as it may allow for food shortages and prices to spike in the coming months. The first crisis is man-made.

As a result of President Trump’s trade war with China, American farmers are struggling to pull in a profit. The demand for their products is no longer there. While many of our farmers are fighting to make any money in the first place, the second crisis hits: mother nature. This time, it’s not something that can be fixed by man.

Historic rains and flooding across the country has left millions of farmers in a pickle. Before growing season starts, farmers find a good stretch of dry weather in the spring to spread their seeds. The problem is, it just hasn’t stopped raining in many parts of the U.S. That has left a lot of famers worried they won’t have enough time to get their crops in the ground.

Uncooperative Weather

Considering it’s June and farmers haven’t had a solid period of dry weather, many are still waiting. One example is the Hurst family farm in Missouri. Their 600 acres is completely under water after they already planted the fields with corn. They’re considering replanting with soybeans, but other problem is taking root. They’ve already sprayed herbicide for corn. If that herbicide is still in the ground, it would kill any soybean plants.

“It’s just one damn thing after another,” said Hurst, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau. “This one you just sit around and watch it rain ’cause there’s not a darn thing you can do about it.” They, like many other farmers, are struggling with their decision. It’s not an easy one to make. This problem is going to cause a lot of problems for the U.S. economy.

Agriculture makes up 5.4% of our GDP. If farmers can’t get their seed down in time, then that seeps into other industries. A lot of the grain and corn planted go towards feed for animals and other products like ethanol. This is a recipe for disaster. Already broke farmers are risking their entire season, which means demand will go up and supplies will be short.

“Farmers are on the front lines at a time when farm income already pretty low,” said John Newton, a chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “I think without these trade assistance packages we’d see a crisis across farm country.” Struggling farmers can collect on insurance for the loss, but they need to get their seed in the ground by a certain date.

Many Farms Could Close

Alicia Harvie is the director of the farmer services at Farm Aid. She helps to run a hotline that allows farmers to call and ask for assistance. She has stated that his one-two punch could be on par with the 1980s disasters that ended up forcing the closing of many family farms.

“The average farm family last year made a negative number for their salary,” she said. “What other job do we have where we expect somebody to lose money to do their job every day?” Between the breaking down of trade talks and the bad weather, we’re looking at a poor growing season that could put a lot more farmers out of business.

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