内布拉斯加州的肯纳德感觉自己离北京甚至华盛顿特区都很远
但是作为美国和中国玉米脱壳州和斯科特·汤姆森这样的农民仍然被困在贸易战中。
种植玉米、牛和大豆的第四代农民汤姆森正准备收获去年冬天种植的大豆——此时中国已停止购买美国大豆，以回应特朗普政府的关税。
“今年到目前为止，中国还没有购买一批出口大豆，这不是很典型，”汤姆森在他位于内布拉斯加州东部肯纳德的家庭农场告诉美国广播公司新闻。
“当中国停止购买时，我们的价格就会下降，”他说。
迫在眉睫的危机
根据美国大豆协会的数据，中国是世界上最大的大豆买家，在过去的五年里，中国进口的大豆比其他任何国家的总和都多。
在特朗普第一届政府期间的2018年贸易战之前的七年里，美国大豆出口总量的大约60%流向中国。
如今，在与美国的贸易谈判中，北京转向南美，特别是巴西购买大豆。
对于直接向亚洲出口农产品的美国农民来说，在化肥和其他投入变得更加昂贵的时候，中国对大豆需求的蒸发可能是毁灭性的，并导致破产和止赎。
“这对我们的市场是一个巨大的冲击，”内布拉斯加大学农业经济系教授科里·沃尔特斯告诉ABC新闻。
在内布拉斯加州东部和华盛顿特区的对话中，一些农民游说立法者和特朗普政府在收获前提供财政援助，十多名农民告诉美国广播公司新闻，他们觉得自己像是美国和中国之间的谈判筹码。
他们说，他们担心潜在的危机会在美国农村引起反响。
“我们正处于50年来最严重的经济衰退之中，”内布拉斯加州农民联盟主席约翰·汉森上周在内布拉斯加州比阿特丽斯的一次地区会议上说。
“农业是我们在内布拉斯加州和中西部许多州的基础，”种植玉米和大豆的农民唐·舒勒告诉美国广播公司新闻。"如果这里的农业失败了，一切都会失败。"
在一些地区，无法将作物卖给榨油厂生产烹饪用油和生物燃料的农民表示，他们担心谷物升降机和储存设施会停止购买大豆。
农民们说，空间的缺乏和对能否转售大豆的担忧，以及无法向中国销售的其他州的大豆农民将涌入当地市场，将进一步压低价格。
特朗普提供了帮助，但迄今没有具体的解决方案
在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时，一些表示支持唐纳德·特朗普总统的农民对大豆危机感到沮丧，部分原因是特朗普承诺支持农民。
“我赢了80%，85%的农民。我爱他们，”特朗普在6月说。“我永远不会做任何伤害我们农民的事情。”
在特朗普第一届政府期间，当中国出于贸易杠杆的原因首次收紧从美国购买大豆时，白宫向农民支付了数百亿美元，以帮助他们弥补需求缺口。
今年8月，特朗普敦促中国再次开始购买大豆，他在社交媒体上发帖说，“我希望中国将大豆订单迅速翻两番。”
周四，他在白宫告诉记者，他希望从关税中获得一些钱，“给我们的农民”，尽管农业部尚未公布计划。
美国农业部的代表告诉ABC新闻，讨论仍在进行中。
“种植大豆、玉米、小麦、高粱和棉花的农民正面临非常困难的时期，”农业部长布鲁克·罗林斯周三在白宫告诉记者。“我们目前正在白宫就一项农民援助计划与政府进行对话。”
中国商务部发言人何亚东在一份声明中表示，“关于大豆贸易，美国应该采取积极行动，取消相关的不合理关税，为扩大双边贸易创造条件。”
汤姆森表示，他投票支持特朗普，并表示在与中国的谈判中，他仍然支持政府的立场。
“我投票给他是因为我希望看到制造业回到这个国家。我想看高薪的工作。我想看到每个人做得更好。我认为这是为了长期收益的一些短期痛苦，”他说。
汤姆森补充说，农民比大多数人更有弹性，他们习惯于经受过去几年的繁荣与萧条的循环。
“这不是一种轻松的生活。你们为什么选择这个?这有什么关系?”ABC新闻的马特·里弗斯问汤姆森。
“我想说，在仲冬和仲夏的几天里，每个人都会问自己这个问题，”汤姆森回答道。
“但你要坚持下去，”里弗斯说。
“这是一种激情。这是传统。“这是一种爱好，”汤姆森说。
“我们这一带有些农民有全职工作，他们会在周末下班后去做。这是他们从小到大一直在做的事情，人们对此充满热情，”他补充道。
Soybean farmers caught in looming crisis as US trade war with China cripples sales
Kennard, Nebraska, feels a long way from Beijing or even Washington, D.C.
But as theUnited StatesandChinaremain locked in a trade war, the Cornhusker State and its farmers like Scott Thomsen are caught in the middle of the conflict.
Thomsen, a fourth-generation farmer who farms corn, cattle and soybeans, was preparing to harvest soybeans planted last winter – at a moment when China has stopped purchasing American soybeans in response to the Trump administration's tariffs.
"China has not bought a single export cargo of beans so far this year, which is not very typical," Thomsen told ABC News on his family's farm in Kennard, in eastern Nebraska.
"When China quits buying, our prices go down," he said.
A looming crisis
China is the world's largest soybean buyer, importing more soybeans over the last five years than every other country combined, according to the American Soybean Association.
In the seven years leading up to the 2018 trade war during the first Trump administration, roughly 60% of all U.S. soybean exports went to China.
Today, Beijing is turning to South America, and particularly to Brazil, for soybeans amid trade negotiations with the United States.
For American farmers who export their harvests directly to Asia, the evaporation of Chinese demand for soybeans -- at a time when fertilizer and other inputs have become more expensive -- could potentially be devastating, and lead to bankruptcies and foreclosures.
"It's just a massive shock to our markets," Cory Walters, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska, told ABC News.
In conversations across eastern Nebraska and in Washington, D.C., where some farmers lobbied lawmakers and the Trump administration for financial assistance ahead of the harvest, more than a dozen farmers told ABC News they felt like bargaining chips between the U.S. and China.
They said they were worried about how the potential crisis could reverberate across rural America.
"We're in the middle of the worst economic downturn that I've seen in my 50 years," John Hansen, the president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, said at a regional meeting in Beatrice, Nebraska, last week.
"Agriculture is our foundation here in Nebraska and many states in the Midwest," Don Schuller, a corn and soybean farmer, told ABC News. "If agriculture is failing here everything is going to fail."
In some areas, farmers who can't sell their crops to crushing plants producing oil used for cooking and biofuels say they are worried that grain elevators and storage facilities will stop purchasing soybeans.
A lack of space and concerns about being able to resell the crop-- and that soybean farmers from other states that are unable to sell to China will flood their local markets -- will further depress prices, the farmers say.
Trump offers help, but no concrete solutions so far
In conversations with ABC News, some farmers who said they supported President Donald Trump felt frustrated by the soybean crisis, in part because Trump had promises to support farmers.
"I won 80%, 85% of the farmers. And I love them," Trump said in June. "I'm never going to do anything to hurt our farmers."
During the first Trump administration, when China first tightened soybean purchases from the U.S. for trade leverage, the White House delivered tens of billions in payouts to farmers to help them bridge the gap in demand.
In August, Trump urged China to start buying soybeans again, posting on social media, "I hope China will quickly quadruple it's soybean orders."
On Thursday, he told reporters at the White House he hoped to take some of the money raised by tariffs and "give it to our farmers," even though the Department of Agriculture has not yet unveiled a plan.
Representatives from the USDA told ABC News that discussions are still ongoing.
"Soybean, corn, wheat, sorghum, cotton farmers are facing very difficult times," Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. "We are currently in conversations here at the White House, across the government, on a farmer aid package."
Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson He Yadong said in a statement, "Regarding the trade of soybeans, the United States should take positive action to cancel the relevant unreasonable tariffs to create conditions for expanding bilateral trade."
Thomsen, who said he voted for Trump, said he still supports the administration's position amid negotiations with China.
"I voted for him because I'd like to see manufacturing come back to this country. I'd to see good paying jobs. I want to see everybody do better. And I think this is some short-term pain for a long-term gain," he said.
Farmers are more resilient than most people, Thomsen added, used to weathering the boom-and-bust cycles of years past.
"This is not an easy life. Why do you guys choose this? Why does this matter?" ABC News' Matt Rivers asked Thomsen.
"I would say there's a few days in the middle of winter and middle of summer that everybody asks themselves that question," Thomsen replied.
"But you stick with it," Rivers said.
"It's a passion. It's a tradition. It' a hobby," Thomsen said.
"There's farmers in our area that have full-time jobs and they'll do it after working on the weekends. That's what they grew up doing and people have a lot of passion for it," he added.
