Prior to attending the 40th Farm Aid benefit concert Sept. 20 in Minneapolis, Sen. Amy Klobuchar felt that perhaps the emerging crisis unfolding in the farm economy had fallen on deaf ears across the country.  

Not so, Klobuchar said during a visit to the Tyler, Minn., farm of Joel Schreurs, a director with the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA).  

The dire message is being received.

“After Farm Aid, I think people are waking up to how bad it is right now (in agriculture),” she said during a roundtable discussion in Schreurs’ garage, where she was flanked by Schreurs and MSGA Director Bob Worth. “It’s gotten into their psyche, and I think they’re starting to see it.”   

Worth said the current economic landscape reminded him of conditions that led to the creation of Farm Aid four decades ago.  

“This is the 1980s farm crisis all over again,” Worth said.  

Tariffs on many of U.S. soy’s largest trading partners have wreaked havoc on not just producers, but the entire ag supply chain. Since April 2025, when trade tensions between China and the U.S. began increasing, China has effectively stopped purchasing U.S. soybeans. In the 2023/2024 marketing year, China imported over $13 billion in U.S. soybeans. Replacing that market takes years, not weeks or months. Additionally, in contrast to the 2018-2019 trade war, tariffs have gone beyond China to affect U.S. soy customers across the globe. Combine low commodity prices with a widening basis and input costs that remain stubbornly high, and it’s hard to look for a bright economic spot as farmers head out into the fields to harvest what’s predicted to be a near-record soybean crop.  

“It’s a weird combination of bad circumstances,” Klobuchar said, adding, “We’ve got to find a way out.”  

Matt Schreurs, Joel’s cousin and vice president of ag lending with First Farmers and Merchant Bank, explained to the senator that the numbers aren’t adding up for producers in his region. Some growers are seeing losses totaling $180 per acre.  

“I’m looking at a lot of red ink,” said Matt Schreurs, a member of MSGA. “It’s a perfect storm of ugly.”  

Joel Schreurs underscored the importance of agriculture to rural towns throughout Minnesota and the country. He’s also concerned how younger farmers will be impacted.  

“When ag does well in southwest Minnesota, so does our local economy,” he said.  

Instead of wallowing in bad news, Joel, Matt, Worth and Executive Director Joe Smentek offered a series of recommendations to Sen. Klobuchar that could lead to economic improvement across farm country in the months ahead:  

• Removal of tariffs on U.S. soybeans through negotiations 

• Unfreeze USAID funding. Food aid programs through USAID help build a positive, long-tern reputation for U.S. agriculture across decades. In FY2024, about $110 million worth of U.S. soy was purchased by USAID for Food for Peace 

• Passing a skinny Farm Bill before year’s end to ensure critical programs continue to receive funding 

• Supporting renewable fuels through higher blends of biodiesel and using soybean oil as a primary feedstock in sustainable aviation fuel 

“There’s got to be some sort of resolution,” Klobuchar said.   

Without a trade deal with China, the farmers agreed, financial assistance will likely be warranted to prevent a full-blown catastrophe in the ag economy. 

  

“Farmers want open markets more than anything, but the current situation is unsustainable,” Joel Schreurs said. “We’re going to lose a lot of good farmers without an assistance package.”   

Joel Schreurs, who sits on the board of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), thanked the senator, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, for supporting policies that are helping to grow market access beyond China and invited her to visit emerging markets that are working with USSEC through the Soy Excellence Center.   

“We had great discussions and let her know what we’re thinking and where we want to go from here,” he said.  

 Schreurs’ efforts to grow markets continue. On Sept. 30, he’s hosting a Southeast Asian trade delegation alongside Northern Soy Marketing.