Welcome to a new era in history. Donald Trump is officially the 45th President of the United States of America and yet the question remains – what kind of President will he become?
Since President Donald Trump’s election win, the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Index and the Nasdaq Composite have all reached record highs. Business confidence and economic growth prospects in the United States have soared on commitments to cut corporate taxes, deregulate industry, increase domestic spending and ramp up infrastructure investment. The rest of the world are also enjoying this bull market as Britain’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the French CAC 40 are all rising on investors’ expectation that the ‘Trump-trade’ will boost global economic growth.
The Trump Rally in Global Financial Markets
Source: MSCI (2017)
In his first days in the Oval Office, President Trump has made a series of groundbreaking and controversial executive orders on trade, immigration and funding for the scientific community. This has included withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, building a border wall with Mexico and temporarily freezing new research contracts for institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency. Making good on promises made during his often-divisive presidential campaign, Trump is doing everything he can to place “America First” and bring prosperity back to a substantial segment of the population who have been left behind by global market capitalism. This includes driving the return of industry, implementing competitive bidding in highly regulated sectors and deconstructing the influence of lobbyists across agriculture, healthcare and even the military. For millions of people whose incomes have remained stagnant over the past 20 years, such change may be very welcome.
For millions of others, President Trump is an increasing source of uncertainty. His controversial rhetoric, divisive policy goals and tendency towards overstatement are causing concern for many people around the world. Transitions of power are never easy, yet in order to uphold the fundamental tenants of a democracy the population must move on from the wounds of a heated presidential campaign and strive for harmony across society, politics and business. Only then can we drive true change for the better.
What’s clear is that the new President intends to completely overhaul the political system and create something entirely new. This has been reflected in his choice of staff. New Health Secretary Tom Price has left it to Congress to determine any repeal and replacement of Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Ben Carson, Head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has advocated for extensive infrastructure programs to increase housing construction as well as investments in rental assistance for the homeless. The hope is that Rick Perry and Scott Pruitt (Trump’s picks for Energy Secretary and Head of the Environmental Protection Agency), having both confirmed their acceptance of man-made climate change, will prioritize climate protection alongside economic growth, affordable energy and job creation. So what of agriculture?
Sonny Purdue, former owner of a successful grain and fertilizer business, has been selected as President Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture and Head of the United States Department of Agriculture. Tasked with overseeing a $150 billion budget, he will work to strengthen the fundamental pillars of the sector ranging from economics, trade and food security. While Purdue’s perspective on organic foods is a mystery, hopefully the search for value, productivity and sustainability will prevail regardless of politics. Sustainable and organic inputs are environmentally safer, produce crops with higher nutritional value and yield on average 10x the profit. Operational costs for running a farm fall by 40% once it is organically certified, as there is no need for expensive and patented seeds or synthetic inputs. In their latest study, the Rodale Institute found that organic yields not only matched conventional yields for sample crops, but also outperformed them in drought conditions. There is no doubt agriculture is moving away from dangerous synthetics and towards agro ecological and organic solutions.
The Power and Value of Organic Farming Systems
There is a profound shift occurring around the world as leaders are beginning to listen more carefully to the demands of their people left disillusioned by global market capitalism. During this transitional phase, society must lay the foundations for a global macroeconomic system that works for all. It must be remembered that no matter who is in power, people have a personal and collective responsibility to work within the frame and persevere in responsible action to create sustainable value.
“Don’t try and change the soil, don’t try and change the rain and don’t try and change the sunshine; as you cannot change the seasons…it’s all we’ve got to work with!”
Jim Rohn (2013)
Our philosophies alone determine our success. One individual or organization cannot change the government, cannot change the economy and cannot change the system anymore than they can change the weather. We cannot change the circumstances; we can only change ourselves. Therefore, it is our belief and philosophy to concentrate on the fundamental elements for human survival and prosperity. The future requires that we evolve our antiquated and damaging systems to more sustainable options.
We are doing our part to innovate and implement sustainable solutions across the Agri and BPC markets and are buoyed by the fact that the populous is in line with our goals at an ever-increasing rate as human awareness expands. We are not complaining about the seasons and are impartial to them, as they are out of our control. We are urging our fellow man to empower the global leaders to make smart decisions by innovating tangible, sustainable and profitable solutions and encouraging all those that are able to work towards the greater good of all mankind.
Creating change through innovation, unity and positive empowerment towards the greater outcomes for all.