It’s only December and still months away from U.S. farmers going into the fields to plant next year’s soybean crop, but the Chinese are already buying it.

The Department of Agriculture’s second effort at easing the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has distributed more than half its intended funding.

The recent derecho’s crop damage is so severe in a swath across Iowa and northern Illinois that many farmers will rush to replace bins the horrific wind also razed, but many won't.

The U.S. will be losing one of its staunchest advocates in China for U.S. beef, ethanol and other farm goods in early October. That’s when Ambassador Terry Branstad says he is stepping down from being the top U.S. representative in Beijing.

President Donald Trump made a brief stop in storm-ravaged Iowa on Tuesday to promise that federal help would be coming "very rapidly" to help the state recover from the straight-line winds last week that knocked out power, steamrolled corn and soybean fields, and smashed grain bins.   

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is requesting nearly $4 billion in federal aid after straight-line winds smashed grain bins, flattened crops, and left thousands of residents without power last week.

Vice President Mike Pence, launching the Trump campaign's agriculture coalition, offered some proverbial red meat to a crowd of supporters in Iowa on Thursday by criticizing Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris for suggesting that Americans should eat less of the real stuff.

Industry analysts, government officials, and insurance adjusters are trying to make sense of just how much damage was done by the heavy winds that cut through the heart of the Corn Belt in a Monday storm system.