'We want to trust what we’ve heard': Farmers remain unsettled on trade, even after China’s biggest U.S. soybean purchase in two years

A man stands in a soybean field and looks down at a soybean kernel in his palm. (Credit: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP—Getty Images)

China just placed its largest order of U.S. soybeans in two years, offering a sign of improving trade conditions after months of China snubbing American soybean farmers.

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the sale of 792,000 metric tons of soybeans to China. The move follows a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the end of last month to ease trade tensions, with China committing to resume orders of U.S. soybeans and purchase 12 million tons of of the crop by the end of the year, as well as at least 25 million tons in each of the next three years.