DTN's Top 10 Ag News Stories of 2016

OMAHA (DTN) -- Each year, DTN publishes our choices for the top 10 ag news stories of the year. Today we continue our rundown with No. 2 on how rural counties in key battleground states put Donald Trump over the top to win the presidential election. His win immediately set high expectations for Trump in rural America.

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Donald J. Trump turns the page on the presidency in January.

Trump's November election as U.S. president seemed as unlikely a story at the beginning of 2016 as any other news event. Yet, the 70-year-old New York hotel developer and reality TV star captured the Republican nomination over 16 other GOP rivals who verbally sparred for more than a year before Trump's personality, large rallies and free media time dispatched all other contenders.

The general election, which pitted the braggadocious, freewheeling business celebrity against a former first lady, senator and secretary of State. The debates were acrimonious and every day seemed to bring a new scandalous assault on one or both of the candidates.

The rest is history still being made.

No sooner had Trump been elected than questions arose about how he will separate his business dealings from his role as president. The roles his children will play in the administration have been repeatedly raised. Details on these concerns are still to come.

As the days wore on after his election, more reporting was done on the level of Russian involvement in the election and whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin had a hand in helping elect Trump as well.

Rural America, however, immediately embraced Trump's presidency. A DTN/The Progressive Farmer poll on the Pulse of Rural America released just before the election showed a nearly two-to-one margin for Trump over Hillary Clinton in rural America. Trump ended up winning 30 states to capture the Electoral College win even though he lost the national popular vote to Clinton 48.1% to 46%.

Rural counties in key battleground states put Trump over the top. His win immediately set high expectations for Trump in rural America.

"Rural America stepped up, but they stepped up because things are pretty tough out there," said Chuck Conner, president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, shortly after the election. "There's a natural expectation out there that Donald Trump is the white knight and his cabinet is right there beside him. They are going to come in and fix this and we're going to have $5 corn and no regulation, and exports are going to boom. It's going to make the expectations of these jobs really tough."

Agriculture was seldom an issue in a presidential campaign driven heavily by personal attacks. Yet Trump did key in on different topics, such as vowing to relieve the regulatory pressure on farmers. Trump plans to scrap several rules created under President Barack Obama, including the highly criticized EPA rule defining waters of the U.S.

Ethanol also was the one topic that came up from time-to-time during Trump's visits to Iowa.

While the choice for Agriculture secretary still remains and is one of Trump's later cabinet picks, he built an energy team of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency, followed by secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been named nominee for Energy Secretary.

All three nominees have battled against the Renewable Fuel Standard and other policies that benefit biofuel production. Still, Trump's transition leaders maintain the president-elect stands by his defense of the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Trade was a hot topic during the campaign and Trump has made it clear he will withdraw from the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership as soon as he takes office next month, calling TPP "a potential disaster for our country." The trade pact was expected to boost U.S. ag exports by roughly $7.2 billion over 15 years while ag imports were projected to grow $2.7 billion.

Trump also has sent mixed signals on U.S. trading partners such as China. He has poked China in different ways since the election, but also named Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as his ambassador to China. Branstad has a relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping going back 30 years when Xi visited Iowa as a young government agricultural official.

Moving into 2017, both Trump's strongest backers and harshest critics are convinced he will redefine presidency.

Chris Clayton can be reached at chris.clayton@dtn.com

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Editor's Note: You can find No. 3 in DTN's top 10 list in today's top stories.

Check Dec. 30 for No. 1 in our top 10 list.

(GH/ES/AG)

Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.