MARION COUNTY, Tenn. — The ongoing trade negotiations with China have been affecting how farmers in Tennessee manage their crops.
We spoke with one Marion County farmer about how the trade talks are affecting his business.
“They haven’t bought any soybeans as of lately, US soybeans, that is, and it’s become quite an issue,” says Tennessee soybean farmer, James Haskew.
Soybean farmers in Tennessee are facing uncertainty since one of their biggest customers are not buying right now.
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Jake McNeal with the UT Agriculture Extension says China is standing by their decision not to buy soybeans from the US.
“Up to this point, China has committed to buy not one single bushel of soybeans from the US due to the impacts from the tariffs.”
Since the beginning of his second term, President Donald Trump has issued tariffs on trade partners across the world, including China
China responded to those tariffs, with those of their own.
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Farmers who export to China say they’ve seen the impact.
“Traditionally, China purchases between 20 to 25% of the soybeans that we export annually. So that’s a huge market. We depend on it every year,” says McNeal.
Haskew says his production costs are also up, making this harvesting season especially hard.
” Some of that’s tariff related. Some of that’s just the overall cost of operation, and currently, corn and soybeans both are below their cost of production on average, and that’s affecting the bottom line of most grain farmers.”
It’s now soybean harvest season, and McNeal says many farmers have to store and hope for the best for next year while trade discussions are going on.
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“Some producers have on farm storage capacity, that is, they can harvest it and hold it for a certain amount of time until and hope for a better futures market.”
We asked US Representative from Tennessee Chuck Fleischmann about what he has to say to soybean farmers who are struggling in his state of Tennessee.
He says “hang in there.”
“Trust President Trump, to cut a deal that ultimately is not only going to help them export more goods, but also will help our country,” says Representative Fleischmann.
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President Trump is set to meet with China later this week. He’s said he’s hopeful the two nations will come up with a deal or truce regarding trade.
