What Trump’s deal with China means for Minnesota farmers

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]The president said China agreed to buy more American oil, 200 Boeing jets, and agricultural products. Some of those products include soybeans. John Lordson spoke with some Minnesota farmers about what that deal could mean for them.

[00:00:13]Yes. What about the deals in China? Did you get a deal on soybeans? You know, the farmers >> The farmers are going to be very happy.

[00:00:20]They're going to be buying billions of dollars of soybeans, yeah.

[00:00:24]President Trump made that announcement on Air Force One as he got ready to depart from his state visit to China.

[00:00:30]Closer to home, near Le Sueur, Uh it seems like it was they were good talks.

[00:00:34]They were cordial. Farmer Dave Farr says he's cautiously optimistic and he's waiting to see how the markets interpret President Trump's meeting with Chinese leaders. US soybean exports to China dropped to just 15% last year, down from 41% in 2016.

[00:00:52]We would love to get them back as a customer, speaking for producers, because they are they are a big importer of our proteins, primarily uh soybeans and soybean meal. While the details are still somewhat vague, it's believed that US officials have been trying to get China to buy about 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually over the next few years. Experts say that's more than double what China bought last year. An increase in exports would come at a time when Minnesota farmers are struggling with higher land, equipment, fertilizer, and fuel costs. Well, we were selling them this much and we're selling this much in the last year or two, right? So, uh again, any any increase in that amount uh is is going to look good on the USDA numbers. And the timing could be good for other reasons. The USDA is predicting this year farmers will yield the second largest soybean harvest on record.

[00:01:44]>> The way I describe to my wife, too, it's a lot of excitement, right? It's a new beginning, right? So, it's always fun getting planted and seeing the crop come up. In Le Sueur, John Lordson, WCCO News. The US trade representative says he does expect China to buy billions of dollars worth of US goods, farm goods over the next 3 years, and that would include a variety of agricultural products in addition to soybeans.