FAUQUIER CO, VA -- Soybean farmers are bracing for new tariffs imposed by China in a looming trade war with the United States.
Soybeans are Virginia's number one agricultural export to China.
Stafford County soybean farmer Glenn Dye is extremely angry with President Trump for starting the trade war. He's worried it could devastate soybean farmers in the U.S and Virginia.
Not all farmers agree.
Sid Rodgers runs the Moriah Farm in Fauquier County. He's optimistic and said worrying about a trade war is like worrying about the weather. You can't control it, so there's no point.
Rodgers grows both soybeans and corns, but now, his soybeans are getting close to harvest time.
"I'm not worried. This country has always prevailed. It may affect some people, and not other people, but I think we're going to be just fine. I have all the faith in the world in Trump. He'll do everything in his power to make sure the American farmer is taken care of," said Rodgers.
He thinks China is calling our bluff with the tariff on soybeans.
"I don't think there is enough other countries that can produce enough soybeans that can satisfy the need that China has, not only for a people population but for a pork population. So I don't think China has a choice but to buy from us as well. That last thing China's going to do is to have their people starve," said Rodgers.
But other farmers are concerned China will find others, including having their own farmers produce more soybeans.
"Once you're out of an export market, and they replace you with somebody else, it's hard to get back in there. There's that concern. The worst case scenario is that they just reject or close our market and they go somewhere else such as South American, Brazil, Argentina and then that works out, and then we've lost that trading partner for a long time," said Tim Mize, Fauquier County's Agriculture Extension Agent.
Rodgers isn't losing any sleep yet.
"I don't know what's going to happen, but we'll weather the storm just fine. I think everybody else will as well, he said.
Sid Rogers looks at the trade war as a chess game and he believes the U.S. will surely win.
China placed tariffs on $34 billion of American agriculture products including soybeans, beef, cotton and dairy, according to the office of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va).
Each year, soybean production accounts for about $187 million in economic output, which supports thousands of jobs. Agriculture is Virginia's largest private economic sector, exporting $2.77 billion in products annually.
