Over 9,000 farmers came to Commodity Classic in Orlando last week to get a look at the future of agriculture, but they left seeing little progress on some of the most important issues facing the industry for the 2019 season. Tariffs remain in place, no trade agreement has been reached with China, the USMCA has not been ratified by any of the countries involved, and immigration continues to be a political issue too hot to handle. Mary Kay Thatcher, with Syngenta Government Relations, is not optimistic much progress will be made before planters roll this spring. “We chip away on some of these, and I hope we will make some progress in the next few months.” She added, since U.S. agriculture exports 25% of what it produces, “If we don’t make some progress on trade, we are in trouble.”Thatcher told HAT the refusal of the administration to lift the steel tariffs, despite a USMCA agreement, is continuing to hurt agriculture. She cited a Purdue University study that shows U.S. farmers will benefit from USMCA by $500 million, but the tariffs cost agriculture $1.7 billion.