Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 6:43 and sunset is 4:34 for 9 hours 51 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 46.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Equal Opportunities Commission meets at 5 PM.
On this day in 1938, Nazi Germany issues the Decree on the Elimination of Jews from Economic Life prohibiting Jews from selling goods and services or working in a trade, totally segregating Jews from the German economy.
Perhaps — steady yourselves, Wisconsinites — America’s greatest dealmaker isn’t such a great dealmaker after all:
Soybeans are a top food export for the U.S., making up 14% of the nation’s agricultural exports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2024, China bought $12.5 billion of the $24.5 billion of soybeans the U.S. exported globally — more than 50% of U.S. exports of the crop.
In 2024, China imported approximately 26.8 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But even with China’s commitment to purchasing 12 million metric tons before the end of 2025, total U.S. soybean exports to China this year would reach only 18.2 million metric tons — a 32% decline in exports since 2024.
China’s boycott of U.S. soybeans has cost farmers billions of dollars in lost exports. While the recent deal will help make up for some lost ground, a decrease in U.S. soybean exports to China paired with high production costs and low crop prices have made 2025 a tough year for American farmers.
Additionally, the 25 million tons of U.S. soybeans China agreed to buy annually for the next three years falls short of the average amount sold to China since the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2020 through 2024, the U.S. sold an average of more than 28 million metric tons of soybeans to China annually, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
See Anna Kleiber, China has resumed U.S. soybean imports. It might not be enough for Wisconsin farmers, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 11, 2025.
Soybeans, however, weren’t on the menu at Mar-a-Lago —
‘America First’ was nothing but a slogan.