Leadership Quote by Kent Conrad

Conrad’s line lands like a prairie-state warning shot: Europe isn’t just competing, it’s underwriting victory. The “old-fashioned way” phrase is doing double duty. It sounds folksy, almost amused, but it’s a knife twist aimed at the idea that markets are won through grit and efficiency. If Europe is “buying” markets, then free trade isn’t a neutral playing field; it’s a rigged arena where public money quietly stands in for comparative advantage.

The intent is political as much as economic. By invoking “lengthy discussions” with “European farm leaders,” Conrad claims insider credibility while casting the Europeans as strategic, coordinated, and—crucially—willing to use the state as a weapon. That framing positions American producers as the straight shooters who play by the rules, and American policymakers as naive if they don’t respond in kind. It’s a pitch for domestic support: subsidies, export credits, countervailing measures, and tougher bargaining in trade talks.

The subtext is about legitimacy. “Agricultural strategy” isn’t inherently sinister, but Conrad implies a moral imbalance: Europe’s dominance is engineered, not earned. This was a familiar flashpoint in late-20th/early-2000s trade politics, when the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and export subsidies were widely accused of distorting global prices and crowding out competitors, especially in developing countries and in U.S. export categories. Conrad translates that wonky policy fight into a blunt, memorable image: if they’re purchasing markets, then America is being outbid for its own livelihood.