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ORANGE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) -Cameron Gibson’s farm produced 4,400 bushels of soybeans this year, but with trade disputes still ongoing, he has no guarantee where that crop will end up.
Gibson, who grows soybeans in Orange County, works his land seven days a week, all year round. China is usually his biggest customer.
“Unfortunately, China has kind of fallen back on their commitments and has only bought maybe a third of what they agreed they would this fall,” Gibson said.
Gibson said this is at least an improvement from China’s initial complete halt on soybean purchases. The deal also came with a 30-cent price hike on beans, something Gibson applauded.
“I know our leaders are doing the best they can to help everyone out,” Gibson said.
Still, he said the current state of soybean trade is unsustainable.
Representative John McGuire, a Republican from Virginia’s 5th District, said lawmakers want to make farming easier for producers.
“We want to make it easier for farmers to farm,” McGuire said. “They’re the backbone of our economy,” McGuire said.
For McGuire, a large part of that comes from the long-term solution. He said he has been traveling across this district to collect information, straight from farmers, about what they want to see from a re-upped farm bill in 2026. Before that, he said, the Trump administration wants to provide help.
“We’ve got this $12 billion that President Trump just announced,” McGuire said. “It’s basically to help the farmers out. The money should be distributed near the end of February, and in the meantime, we’re listening to farmers we’re seeing what their concerns are and make sure these programs are available to them.”
Gibson said the assistance will help but is not a complete solution, comparing the relief package to a band-aid over a bullet hole.
“It’s going to help, and again, I sincerely appreciate all the help we’ve been given, but it’s not an end all be all by any means,” Gibson said.
Gibson does not know how much money he will receive, making it harder to plan for next year’s crop.
“It’s a situation like the weather. I can’t control the weather, I can’t control the market,” Gibson said. “If we can establish these markets and maintain these markets then we’ll at least know we have somewhere to go with our product.”
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