China was a major buyer of U.S. soybeans until last year when they all but stopped these imports in retaliation for Trump's tariffs. That's been hard on American farmers who have long grown the crop.
MARTIN: Well, the last time we spoke with you, which was in December of last year, you had too many soybeans. You had nobody to buy them. You said your grain elevator was full of soybeans. And you were trying to wait out this 90 day truce called by the U.S. and China to see how the tariffs would shake out. But what's been happening since then?
And President Trump said that all of this stuff would be over in a few months. And this week, he came out with something else with China.
特朗普总统曾说这些事儿都会在几个月内结束。结果本周呢,他又去和中国搞了点别的事。
And right now, it's difficult for farmers to actually borrow money for farm operating loans. If you try to tell a banker that the going rate is $8 dollars a bushel and you really don't see any relief in sight, it makes it difficult for farmers like myself to borrow farm operating money, to make plans.
And I thought as a farmer that the price would break through by now. But right now, we're at a stalemate with the president. And the price has not improved for myself and other American farmers.
在节目里,主持人也特意问约翰:特朗普说要买你们十几亿的粮食,你看到那些钱了吗?("Have you seen any of that money?")
结果约翰呵呵哒:我一毛钱都没看到啊!
BOYD: I haven't seen a dime of that money.
约翰:我一毛钱都没看到啊!
And I've been calling and calling USDA. And they continue to say that the funds are in process, and the funds are going to be sent to me. I have yet to receive these funds.
And I've reached out to the agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, to ask him for a meeting to see why the payments are late to farmers like myself and other small-scale farmers around the country. And that meeting has fell upon deaf ears and blind eyes.
“Here’s a handout to make you happy? That doesn’t make us happy. We want our markets back,”
1. “这个所谓的‘施舍’能让你开心?得了吧,这一点都没让我们农民开心。我们想把市场要回来!”
"The markets are so low, we cannot even break even to pay our bills. Farmers are losing their farms every day. The suicide rate among farmers is at an all-time high,"