(Radio Iowa) – President Trump met with China’s president earlier today (Thursday) and Trump says China has agreed to start buying massive amounts of U.S. soybeans. U-S Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says China purchased “multiple” shiploads of soybeans just before the meeting. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says it’s all great news that will have a meaningful impact at a tough time for the farm economy. 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 says that made financial problems even worse for soybean farmers.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig on the “Iowa Press” set at Iowa PBS (Iowa PBS photo)

“We are hopeful that this market will be restored following the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi,” Ragland said. “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 says the financial situation for row crop farmers remains dire, though, 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 dollars of emergency payments to farmers could be made using tariff revenue, but the plan was put on hold during the government shutdown.