Soybean farmers across the Midwest are bracing for another difficult year as trade tensions with China cut off their largest export market and rising costs drive profits below break-even.

Fourth-generation Illinois farmer Chris Otten said drought and lower prices have turned a routine harvest into a financial strain.

"We can’t harvest a crop that puts us in the black at all," he said. "Everything we’re doing is going to put us in the red."

He said the family is leaning more on alfalfa and wheat to offset losses, though switching adds costs. "Anytime you change something, your soil tests and fertilizer rates change and your costs go way up."

China is typically the dominant foreign buyer of U.S. soybeans, purchasing about half of American soybean exports in 2024 – roughly $12.6 billion

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