TUE AM News: Talking Trade with Robert Bishop, AgTrade USA; Latest GMAR report covers Q3 home sales, other trends

October 15, 2024

— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” AgTrade USA CEO Robert Bishop offers insights on the global livestock market.

Bishop, who is also the president of the Livestock Exporters Association, discusses the latest developments related to an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu.

“The main country we’re concerned about right now is Turkey, they’ve cut us off because of it,” Bishop said, highlighting an October visit from a Turkish delegation that’s meant to “show them that bird flu really doesn’t affect the type of cattle that we export.”

The podcast puts a focus on American cattle, with Bishop noting decades of genetic manipulation have led to the “top genomic cattle in the world” that are sought after worldwide.

“Today, we ship cattle out of Wilmington, Delaware; Galveston, Texas; and Olympia, Washington are the three major ports in the U.S.,” Bishop said, noting they’re being shipped to destinations throughout Asia, eastern Europe, the Middle East, northern Africa and elsewhere.

He also touches on how historical animal shipping trends have changed over the years, including how trade relationships with China have shifted, as well as the role of USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service in reaching new markets.

“It’s a fantastic relationship that livestock exporters have with our partners at APHIS,” Bishop said.

Talking Trade is hosted by E.M Wasylik Associates Managing Director Ken Wasylik and M.E. Dey & Co. President and Managing Director Sandi Siegel.

Watch the full episode here.

“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.

— Home sales in the greater Milwaukee area continue to recover from last year’s historically low activity, but remain “anemic” compared to prior years.

That’s according to the latest report from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors, which shows a total of 12,809 homes were sold in the third quarter of this year across Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties. That’s an increase of 2.9% from the same period of 2023, when 12,445 homes were sold.

For September alone, sales were 3.1% lower at 1,420 compared to 1,465 in September 2023.

GMAR notes sales in six of the first nine months of this year were ahead of 2023 numbers, but last year was one of the “weakest” sales years since the Great Recession.

Between 2016 and 2022, the regional market saw more than 20,000 sales per year before falling to 16,584 sales in 2023 as interest rates spiked from their low levels. Report authors say 2024 looks like it’s “rebounding,” and could clear the 17,000 sales mark.

“Despite the impact of rising interest rates, the market over the last several years has been driven by the availability of listings to sell,” authors wrote. “Listings have been hard to come by for many years mainly because would-be sellers of existing homes have stayed put, and because the market has not produced enough new units to purchase.”

See the report.

— A coalition of groups seeking greater restrictions on wake-enhanced boating on Wisconsin lakes is touting an increase in the number of lakes with such regulations.

Jeff Meessmann, director of founding member group Last Wilderness Alliance, notes fewer than 20 lakes in the state were regulated for wake-enhanced boating last year. That number is now up to 200, and he says more people are contacting coalition members every day.

“Towns have also taken action, with 33 towns regulating wake-enhanced boating,” Meessmann said in a statement. “We’ve seen a tremendous increase in local communities recognizing the impacts of wake-enhanced boating and subsequently taking action to protect their natural resources through local ordinances.”

Advocates for the change say certain wake-enhanced boats harm the natural environment by churning up fish habitats on lake beds while kicking up sediment and damaging valuable lakefront property.

Coalition members include Lakes at Stake Wisconsin — which was formed to address the “outsized impacts of wake sports” on inland lakes and rivers — as well as Walleyes for Tomorrow, Trout Unlimited Wisconsin, The Yahara Fishing Club, Wisconsin’s Green Fire and other groups.

The Last Wilderness Alliance is promoting its support for local ordinances to limit wake-enhanced boating, offering a standard template for local governments in hopes of avoiding a patchwork of regulations with “vastly different language,” the release shows.

See a list of towns with wake surfing ordinances and yesterday’s release.

See an earlier story on this effort in Wisconsin.

— The state Department of Transportation is shutting down or partially closing three park-and-ride lots in Milwaukee County, citing “declining safety” linked to encampments and people living out of their vehicles.

The agency yesterday announced the indefinite closure of two lots and partial closure of another following a spike in calls to police in recent months. Milwaukee city and county law enforcement responded to 275 calls between July 1 and Sept. 30, which is 42% more than during the same period of 2023.

The state DOT says law enforcement are seeing more reports of assault, theft and people with weapons, as well as robberies, drug overdoses and shootings. Firefighters and paramedics are also responding to more emergency calls at these lots.

“It has become clear that the current conditions are unsustainable,” the agency said in the release.

The announcement cites a state statute that prohibits camping on public highways or adjacent rights-of-way. The decision to close the lots comes after Milwaukee County Housing Services has found “safer and more suitable” housing for more than 80 people, but the release notes others keep coming to the park and ride lots.

The agency will close a lot on Holt Avenue on Oct. 21, while the northeast College Avenue lot and portions of the southwest College Avenue lot will be closed shortly after that. Meanwhile, plans to reconfigure other park and ride lots and increase monitoring are underway, the release shows.

“Park and ride lots are not safe or suitable places for anyone to live,” WisDOT Assistant Deputy Secretary Joel Nilsestuen said in a statement. “We’ve worked closely with our partners to connect individuals with available resources and relocate them to safer situations.”

See the release.

— A recent UW-Madison study explores the experiences of Hmong residents in nursing homes, highlighting significant quality of life challenges linked to language barriers and other factors.

Mai See Thao, a medical anthropologist and UW-Madison professor, worked with researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Iowa on the study, which was published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology. It focused on Hmong residents of a nursing home in Minnesota, where they interviewed staff, residents and other community members.

Thao, who is Hmong, says residents “felt that they lived like they were in captivity.” Given Hmong communities’ history of being refugees from Southeast Asia, she argues it is essential to be mindful of their past experiences to avoid feelings of “isolation, abandonment and uncertainty.”

“A lot of the work as an anthropologist is to bear witness to people’s stories and to tell [them], especially the stories of people who are being marginalized or who feel completely isolated in these spaces,” Thao said.

Wisconsin has the third-largest Hmong population in the country after California and Minnesota, with many Hmong Wisconsinites located in La Crosse, Sheboygan, Green Bay, Wausau and Milwaukee, according to information from the state Department of Health Services.

The study found Hmong residents with limited or no English language skills can feel isolated or face neglect when living in a nursing home without access to other Hmong speakers or translators. And even though the nursing home that researchers visited had Hmong staff members, the Hmong residents reported a lower quality of life than white residents, according to the university.

Researchers found a lack of engaging everyday activities for residents can “stunt meaningful interactions,” while some visitation protocols also made it harder to connect with family members, the release shows.

To improve the quality of life for Hmong nursing home residents, Thao calls for a “cultural and systematic approach” backed by “proper funding and resources.”

See more in the release.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— The Wisconsin Technology Council is holding an event next week focused on the technology and mechanisms underpinning the state’s election processes.

The Oct. 22 luncheon event in Madison features Ben Ginsberg, the Volker Distinguished Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution; Bob Bauer, a distinguished scholar in residence at New York University; and Rock County Clerk Lisa Tollefson, an officer in the statewide association of county election officials, and the technology director and security lead for the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

“Bauer and Ginsberg have been on opposite sides of many of the nation’s contentious election disputes over the last four decades.” Tech Council President Tom Still said in a release. “Through those years of experience, they have gained valuable expertise in election processes… as have our other panelists. We’ll talk about those processes and address questions that may arise.”

State’s economic development agency creates new tribal liaison position

Milwaukee natives team up to launch new construction firm

TOPICS

AGRIBUSINESS

– Crop production forecast of Wisconsin

BANKING

– Bank opening Milwaukee-area location; others closing branches

CONSTRUCTION

– Wisconsin governor declares architecture month in October

ECONOMY

– How competitive is Milwaukee’s apartment market?

EDUCATION