Farmer opinion: 'The pain has spread far beyond my fields. Every person and business in rural America is feeling it.'

U.S. farmers sold nearly half of nation's 2024 soybean crop
to China. (Adobe Stock photo)

Even with a relief package, U.S. farmers can't recoup losses from the U.S.-China tariff war. "We’re on the verge of the nation’s worst farm crisis since the 1980s," writes Mark Heckman in his opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal. Promises from China to "buy a 'tremendous' amount of soybeans, as President Trump put it, aren’t good enough either. We want fair trade."

American farmers sold $12.6 billion in soybeans to China in 2024, which equals roughly half of the soybeans grown in the U.S. But in retaliation against Trump's 2025 tariffs, China snubbed U.S. farmers and bought billions of bushels of beans from South American countries. Heckman writes, "Most of mine will sit unsold in a warehouse."

He said the media often describe "potential relief payments to American soybean farmers as a 'bailout.' I see it as a slap in the face," Heckman adds. "The money won’t come close to making up for the hurt in farm country. . . . The pain has spread far beyond my fields. . . . Every person and business in rural America is feeling it."

"Meanwhile, Trump is boasting," Heckman writes. "Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s elaboration on Trump’s promise from China — feels hollow. What happens if the Chinese don’t come through? More tariffs causing more pain to American farmers like me."

Border taxes serve "no financial purpose if the federal government simply intends to redistribute the money it collects," Heckmans explains. "It turns self-sufficient producers into supplicants pleading for subsidies. . . .The government should get out of American farmers’ way and allow market forces to work. Don’t give us handouts. Let us sell what we grow to the people who want to buy it, at home and abroad."

Mark Heckman is a hog, cattle, corn and soybean farmer who serves as vice chairman of the Global Farmer Network.

As industries try to move away from using products with 'forever chemicals,' here's one possible replacement

Soy oil has multiple uses in food and
industry. (Wikipedia photo)

PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, have been linked to human illnesses and diseases but are still being used in commercial products because there isn't a functional substitute.

One of those products is firefighting foam, but Wisconsin farmers think they may have a solution, which was recently tested in Dalton, Georgia, reports Courtney Everett of Wisconsin Public Radio. "Farmers and volunteer firefighters were using a new soybean-based product called SoyFoam, which holds the potential to significantly reduce the health risks associated with PFAS exposure."

Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board President Pat Mullolly, who was present at the demo, told Everett, "It looked like the consistency of paint. It was a brown-type substance, maybe a little bit thicker than salt. They inject that into the water stream, and it creates foam." Everett added, "According to Mullolly, the biodegradable foam could eliminate the use of PFAS in firefighting foam. The chemicals have been linked by the U.S. Fire Administration to health risks and groundwater pollution."

Although SoyFoam technology is in the testing phase, "Mullolly is hopeful the product and other ongoing state projects can grow Wisconsin's agricultural economy," Everett reports. "Economic opportunities for soybean farmers across the United States are growing, Mullolly added." He told Everett, "There's some soy oil in Goodyear tires and Sketchers shoes. Dalton, Georgia, is the world headquarters for Astroturf, and they're using soy oil in their polyurethane."

Doubts on trade deal and pandemic worry farmers

"Worried farmers and business groups are urging the United States and China to fulfill their obligations under the first stage of the trade agreement, even as the coronavirus scrambles its assumptions," April Simpson reports for Stateline.

"Whether it's in agriculture, manufactured goods or energy, neither country is on track to meet its obligations of the Phase One trade deal signed six months ago. Then, as soon as the deal went into effect a month later, the pandemic spread, and reduced demand for many agricultural products."

Soybean growers took the biggest hit because China is the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans. North Dakota soybean farmer Tyler Stafslien told Simpson, "I'm worse off today than I was before the trade war, and I don’t see an end in sight."

Stafslien is just one example, Simpson writes: "Buffeted by a two-year trade war, followed by a disappointing — at least so far — trade deal and then a worldwide pandemic, there aren’t a lot of farmers, or rural communities, feeling flush right now." Her story recounts the trade war.

Farm economy roundup includes prediction of $11.8 billion drop in crop income, $20.2B in livestock receipts in 2020

Farm Policy News from the University of Illinois has an excellent roundup of how the pandemic is affecting the agricultural economy. Some of the highlights:

An updated economic analysis predicts that the pandemic will cause an $11.85 billion decline in crop farmers' income this year, and a $20.24 billion drop in receipts for all livestock sectors combined. Overall, that's a $32 billion decrease. Net farm income in 2020 is projected to drop by $20 billion, after higher government payments and lower input prices are factored in.

Corn and soybean prices are down, but for different reasons. Soy prices are down because meatpacking-plant shutdowns have led to fears of lowered demand for soybean meal, a major livestock feed. Corn prices are down largely because demand for ethanol is down.

China's ambassador to the U.S. said his country is still implementing the first phase of the trade agreement the two countries signed in January, but said the pandemic might require some changes. Agricultural economists have been skeptical that China will fulfill its obligations under the agreement, which has no mechanism for compliance.