Our Treasury Secretary is A Soy Bean Farmer. Yeah, Right.

My friend Darrell Dorgan used to be a darned good journalist. Still would be if he hadn’t retired. But he’s a careful observer of the world around him, especially the political world, and he sits down at his computer from time to time and hammers out things worth reading. Here’s an example he sent me this week.

“I’M ACTUALLY A SOYBEAN FARMER”

By Darrell Dorgan

ddorgan695@aol.com

I’ve been digging around for information on a company called High Plains Acres. High Plains, which has a presence in Jamestown, Bismarck. and five North Dakota counties, owns thousands of acres of North Dakota farmland and is listed as an LLP, owned apparently by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his marital partner John Freeman. North Dakotans ought to be interested in this business arrangement.

Bessent was appointed by President Donald Trump, and during his questioning by Senators prior to his appointment, Bessent said he would sell his North Dakota land interests, if approved as U.S. Treasury Secretary. He was given until May 15 to meet the deadline but has failed to do so.  A sale would have avoided a potential conflict of interest that Bloomberg news says Bessent agreed to before May 15.

Bloomberg News now reports that Bessent has been given an extension until December 15 to sell his land. 

Bessent told Senators he was a North Dakota farmer at his Senate approval hearing after questions were raised about President Trump’s plans for tariffs and the growing price of groceries and other products that could result.  Groceries like coffee and beef have risen dramatically and the prices offered farmers for crops like corn and soybeans have dropped precipitously as markets like China have quit buying U.S. crops because of disagreements over tariffs, in which Bessent has participated. 

Ag Week says Bessent and his partner Freeman have farmland in several North Dakota counties with a value of 5 to 25 million dollars. 

The New York Times noted in August federal ethics statutes prohibit government officials from handling government matters in conflict with their own interests or those of their spouses.  As Treasury Secretary, Bessent has been involved in policy decisions involving taxes, inflation, prices, and trade policy, and has actively promoted tariffs, which impact the value of crops on his land, and the land itself.

In the new extension agreement granted by the Government Ethics Committee, Bessent has again agreed to recuse himself from matters that would conflict with his duties as Treasury Secretary by December 15.  However, as a key economic advisor to President Trump, it appears he has been involved in negotiations including tariffs that have substantially impacted the economy of rural America.  

There are millions of bushels of corn, soybeans and other grains laying in fields that cannot be sold to other countries because foreign buyers, including China, object to new tariffs.

Now President Trump has slapped new tariffs on Canada, but says he’s confident agreements with Asian interests will be solved this week.  However, Canada is the largest trading partner of the U.S., and it does not appear they will be part of any new world trade agreement.

Last Sunday, a Rueters photo showed Bessent emerging from a meeting with Chinese officials in Malaysia that he indicated would solve the crisis of unsold soybeans and other grains to the Chinese and make American farmers, and presumably himself, happy.  It would appear his participation may be a violation of the ethics agreement to dispose of his land and fiscal holdings that would be impacted by an agreement with the Chinese.  

Economists fear the economy of farm country is on the financial edge unless tariff sales agreements can be agreed to.  Mr. Bessent continues to serve as Secretary of Treasury and unlike thousands of other Government employees who are not being paid, he was unavailable to comment on whether or not he is being paid.  

                Freeman, Bessent’s husband, was also recently appointed to the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) by President Trump despite the current administration’s regulations against gays in the military.  And unlike others appointed to the 10 member ABMC Board that governs 26 American military overseas cemeteries, Mr. Freeman is not a veteran.  He is a former New York Attorney involved in real estate and according to news reports, lives with Secretary Bessent.

In addition to listing Jamestown and Carrington, the two also list 1515 Burnt Boat Drive, Suite C, in Bismarck, as a corporate headquarters.  The Burnt Boat Drive building is home to a small group of offices and includes an insurance agency, an ice cream parlor and Suite C, which is actually a UPS store where you can have mail delivered to a box.  Question:  Why is a UPS box the place where a major land company receives mail?

“I’m actually a soybean farmer,” Bessent told ABC news over the weekend. Well, now that Bessent has sent his buddy Trump over to China to sell them some soybeans, I look forward to seeing him on a tractor out here next spring.