In the increasingly bitter trade war between the United States and China, perhaps nobody has more at stake than America’s soybean farmers, whose crop has become the country’s single biggest export to China.Michael Barbaro speaks to an Iowa farmer who helped build that $13 billion market, and asks her what President Trump’s sky-high tariffs mean for her and for tens of thousands of other American farmers.Guest: April Hemmes, a soybean farmer in Iowa.Background reading: Soybean producers warned that farms could go under after the Trump administration hit China with tariffs of 145 percent.China has long relied on the U.S. for soybeans. But with new steep tariffs, it is likely to look even more to Brazil and Argentina.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Kathryn Gamble for The New York Times Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Chapter 1: Who is April Hemmes and what is her farming background?
So I'm April Hemmes. I am a 65-year-old farmer. I'm here on my family's century farm. My great-grandfather purchased it in 1901. I raise soybeans and corn on my farm in Iowa, the best soil in the world. And I've been on a lot of different boards through the years, United Soybean Board and the Iowa Soybean Board. So part of my travels to China were promoting soybeans. Okay.
And how much of your crop ends up being shipped to China right now?
About 53 percent, over half of the soybeans exported in the U.S. go to China.
Wow.
And that's huge. You know, the American farmers were very good at what we do. We raise very high quality crops. And so we're so good, we don't use it all here domestically. We have a great domestic market, but we need to export it. So China imports our whole soybean, and they crush it there because that's the value is crushing that soybean, we call it.
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Chapter 2: How significant is China as a market for U.S. soybeans?
And then 80% is the meal, and around 20% is the oil. And the meal goes to feed all their livestock. And I think they're the largest— Pork producers in the planet, they raise the most pork. So a lot of our soybeans get fed to their pork and ducks and chickens, poultry. And then the oil, all the oil gets used for human use, for frying.
Got it. The reason we wanted to talk to you about all of this is because you, April, occupy a really interesting and kind of pivotal place in the story of how that relationship between Iowa farmers and China came to be. And we want you to tell that story. And I think that it would be helpful to begin with the past.
basically what the world looked like before farmers like you and those around you sent so much of your crop to China. So can we start by having you paint a picture for us of what it was like in the before? I don't know where you would start that, but I'm going to guess it's a few decades ago.
So I came home in 1985. This is actually my 40th year at home on the farm, which is quite amazing to me. So I graduated in animal science from Iowa State University. And then I worked at the Iowa Swine Testing Station for a little while. And then I got a phone call. We need somebody to talk Iowan. in Washington, D.C., greeting people to a brand new elected congressman.
And I learned pretty quickly that's not where I wanted to be. My goal all along was to come back to the farm. I kind of made that decision and called home and I said, I want to come back to the farm. And my dad said, no, you're not coming back to the farm. This is terrible timing. And my grandfather was the one who said she wants to come back and farm. She's coming back.
So what about the timing was terrible? So it was the farm crisis. So everything just fell apart. We had huge interest rates. So it was like 16% interest. And then the land, the price of the land was going up. So some people bought land very high price with a very high interest rates. And then our commodity prices were not good. And then once farmers started failing, the banks started failing.
So we had a lot of agriculture banks go out of business. And it was a time of white crosses in the courtyard when they had to go sell farms and people selling off their, you know, possessions to make bank payments, things like that.
Am I right, April, in remembering from some civics book I read many, many years ago that a factor in the farm crisis was that there was simply too much crop?
We did have overproduction. We just had too much. We weren't trading around the world and exporting like we are now. And so that's really late 80s, early 90s is when that focus to export, especially to China, really ramped up.
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Chapter 3: What was the farm crisis and how did it affect Iowa farmers?
I can't imagine why.
I know. April, is this just like your farm? Now, it's the same size as my farm, a 1,000-acre farm. There were like 400 landowners, let's say. They didn't own it. And the Chinese are very good at showing you what they want you to see. There were like 24 row combines lined up, little tiny tractors, you know, a bunch of those. And the interpreter said, April, is this like your tractor? And I said...
I don't mean to be disrespectful, but that is like the tractor I mow my lawn with. Wow. And it's like, I said, no, what you're doing on this farm, I do by myself.
So what happens after that initial market tour trip?
So I was really glad I went on that. I assumed it was going to be the last time I, or only time I ever got there. But then fast forward to 2015 and I was appointed to the United Soybean Board by the Secretary of Ag. And so I was asked to go on a trip there to support And that's where I met Honorable Mr. President Bien.
And if you ever go to China, I hope you guys have a chance to, and you meet public officials. It's these huge rooms with the large murals in the background. And you're just in awe. And it's meant to be that way, I think, you know. So I met with him, very cordial.
And just for those who may not understand, what is his role in the Chinese economy and government?
Yeah, he was the president of the Commerce Department for Food and Natural Agriculture Products. So it's who we talked to when we went over there because he was kind of the head of that Commerce Department.
Guys, so you're kind of talking to the big cheese when it comes to soybeans.
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Chapter 4: Why was China seen as a key market to help American farmers?
And then afterwards, there's usually a supper or a dinner and literally the big spinny table where you get to pick what you eat. The whole fish presented or the whole duck, the Peking duck with the head on it and everything, you know, and then they come out and serve you. It's really it's quite grand when you have a state meal. But then they bring the soju out and it's rocket fuel, basically.
That's alcohol. And then you do toast. And so, you know, you go around and the person that's hosting goes around to every single person and does a toast to them. And you say gumbe, which means bottoms up, and then down it and down. The higher the official, the better the booze, as we say.
So in this burgeoning kind of personal set of relationships between you and the Chinese government and their economic community, do they end up sending their folks over to you?
Yeah. So the United Soybean Export Council used to bring soybean buyers from China and take a tour in the fall and bring them to the farm so they can see what kind of a crop we're going to have. Is it going to be a good crop? You know, are they going to have plenty of beans? And in the fall in Iowa, we host the World Food Prize here. And that's when Honorable Mr. President Bien came.
Oh, wait, that same official came to Iowa.
Yes. And he came to my farm. I knew they were going to stop by. I didn't know it was going to be him. And so I was combining corn. So I said, let's go hop in the combine. And I go, OK. And I showed him because it's auto steer. So you push a button and it steers itself. But he wanted to steer that thing. So he was driving over my 240 bushel corn. I was getting a little upset with him, Michael.
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Chapter 5: How did April Hemmes become involved in expanding trade relations with China?
Is he sort of destroying your corn? Yeah, he was, yeah, it's driving over my corn. So he got back, we got him back on the row and he was going and I was explaining how the combine works. It takes the corn off the cob. And then I said, turn around. And that's where the corn goes. And he turned around, you know, and the corn's all going in the tank in the combine. And he's just, his eyes were huge.
And he just kept saying. How satisfying. How satisfying. I said, yeah, but not when you do it nine, ten hours a day. But just the amazement of being in there. And I also knew he would walk away with that. Driving this big, huge combine in the U.S. and just being able to have that experience, I would think is pretty important.
Chapter 6: What are the differences between farming in Iowa and China?
Tell me in your mind why this kind of interaction matters. You talking to this Chinese economic official, this Chinese economic official talking to you. Like, fundamentally, what is the value of this?
I think the value is that personal connection. The personal relationship. Because... It doesn't, I mean, it does come down to price, but when we can tell our stories and they have a face to put with that farmer, you know, they can go, oh, soybean farmer, April. Yeah, I know her. I've talked to her. I know how she raises her crop. I know I've been to her farm, you know, things like that.
That personal connection goes a long way. You know, am I saying it goes a lot farther than cheaper soybeans? No. No. But when it comes to... It's a factor. It really is. And it's amazing to me how much of a factor it can be. And it does mean something now because they have other places they can go. And yet they still buy over half of our soybeans we export.
Overall, how many times do you end up going to China?
Chapter 7: What experiences has April had building personal connections with Chinese officials?
Eight or nine times, at least nine times, I think.
Wow. During this period, as you're making all these trips and as these relationships are clearly growing, how much is the actual trade relationship growing between Iowa farmers, soybean farmers especially, and China? Like if there's a graph, a chart that shows what's happening during this period.
Oh, that chart's a beauty in 2016 or 2017. Because it was growing, growing, growing. And then the first tariff set. And then boom. Down.
We'll be right back. Let's talk about today. After spending all these years cultivating the relationships that you have so successfully cultivated and that has been beneficial to both sides, China getting the soybeans, farmers like you selling so much to China. I want to... I don't know. What is the state of the relationship right now between the U.S.?
You mean today? Yeah, right now.
What is the state of the trade relationship?
But no.
Well, since you raised it, did you vote for this?
I knew it was coming. Here it was. I never answer that question.
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Chapter 8: Why do personal relationships matter in U.S.-China soybean trade?
Yeah, no, he he retired several years ago. So I don't get to chat. I don't get to see Honorable Mr. President Bien anymore. And and I haven't I have seen a couple of buyers that live in Iowa.
You've seen some Chinese buyers in Iowa.
Yeah, yeah, because they live in Iowa or at different events and things like that.
And what do they say?
You know, they're the same way. You know, they just want that market there. They want to not worry about the unknown, you know. And I think we all expected tariffs to come back. but not to the extent that they have been. And just in the past, I know the Chinese will dig in their heels, and I wonder how long the American public will dig in theirs.
Well... Let's talk about the American soybean farmer, you. I mean, and whether you dig in and how you dig in. I mean, what would it mean for you for tariffs on the scale that are in place and the retaliatory tariffs that are in place? What would it mean for you for those to remain in place for any meaningful stretch of time?
Quite honestly? Yeah. We don't know. Other farmers I've talked to are a wait and see, let's wait and see. You know, some think they're going to go broke tomorrow. Here's what I do on my farm. I plan for the worst and hope for the best. And that's quite honestly what I did last year. I think more than anything, my inputs are going to rise, which they're already very high.
And when you say inputs, you mean the things you need to do your farming?
The seed, the chemicals, the fertilizer, the things I need to. So I spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, over half a million right now, to put the seed that isn't even in the ground yet into production.
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