By Jackson Dircks
South Dakota farmers are coming off the sting of a 2025 harvest where China bought significantly less U.S. soybeans. That includes South Dakota soybeans.
A delegation from the Asia Society walked around a soybean farm as part of a visit in Sioux Falls. The group is kicking off its “Listening Tour” in Sioux Falls. The tour is dedicated to educating Chinese citizens about the American heartland and how these communities might connect to the country.
Yangyang Cheng, a senior fellow with the organization’s Center on U.S-China Relations. The Asia Society is dedicated to understanding Asia and its role in the world. She called Sioux Falls the “perfect” place to educate people about America beyond its largest cities.
“People who are used to conversations that happen on the coastal big cities or between Washington and Beijing may not necessarily realize when there are a lot of abstract geopolitical discussions about, say soybeans, or agricultural products, or land use and such, but a lot of these issues are manifesting a very concrete, material way here in Sioux Falls,” Cheng said.
South Dakota farmers know all about those issues taking root in the agricultural industry. It’s a reason many producers are keeping an eye on what happens in Washington D.C.
Click here to see more...