Soybean farmers, caught in the middle of a trade war between the world’s two biggest superpowers, are starting to feel the consequences as China uses its crop purchasing power as political leverage.
As China’s economy has improved, the country has sought out more growth-boosting, high-protein soybean to feed its growing number of livestock such as pork and poultry. As the world’s biggest soybean buyer, China last year bought $12.6 billion worth of soybean from the U.S.—accounting for more than half of America’s total exports of the crop, which is its biggest agricultural export.
