President Trump met with China’s president earlier today and Trump says China has agreed to start buying “massive amounts” of U.S. soybeans. U.S. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on social media that China purchased “multiple” shiploads of soybeans just before the meeting.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig released a written statement, calling it “great news” that will have “a meaningful impact at a time when many farmers are feeling the pain of a tough farm economy.” It appears China will buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans yet this year and far more over the next three years.
“We want to see it finalized, but it sounds like if what they indicated will happen it will be a really positive thing for our soybean farmers and you’re already seeing that reflected in the markets today,” Governor Kim Reynolds told reporters earlier today after an event in Hull.
China has historically been the largest overseas market for U.S. soybeans, but stopped buying this spring in response to U.S. tariffs. American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland said that made financial problems even worse for soybean farmers.
“We are hopeful that this market will be restored following the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi,” Ragland said in testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee this week. “Still, high production costs and market losses mean soybean farmers are expected to face losses of $109 per acre for this year’s crop.”
Ragland said the financial situation for row crop farmers “remains dire” due to escalating costs for things like seeds, fertilizer and farm equipment. “As congress and the administration continue to address the overall cost of farm production…targeted farm assistance is desperately needed,” Ragland said.
President Trump suggested weeks ago that up to $10 billion of emergency payments to farmers could be made using tariff revenue, but the plan was put on hold during the government shutdown.
(Additional reporting in Hull by Carson Schubert, KSOU, Sioux Center)