Brian Duncan slowly moves his hands over the waves of grain growing behind his home in rural Illinois. İmages like this make one think of the good life on a successful American farm. But it hides the hardship Duncan currently faces. “We’re in trouble,” he told VOA.

Brian Duncan serves as vice president of the Illinois Farm Bureau, a not-for-profit organization for the state’s farmers.

Wheat is just one product that grows on Duncan’s farm. He also raises pigs. The farm is also home to about 70,000 pigs every year. He sells their meat to buyers overseas.

Duncan said his crops “were projected to be profitable this year.” They were, but not anymore.

Pork, the meat from pigs, is now subject to a 62 percent Chinese tariff, and demand is decreasing in China, one of the world’s largest pork markets.

“Once that tariff went on, the pork stopped going into China. Not going to Taiwan, either. Not finding other routes. That market just disappeared,” said Duncan.

The Illinois farmer said he expected to earn a $4 to $5 profit on each pig, but now it is a $7 to $8 loss per animal.

“The difference between making and losing money in the hog industry is exports,” said Duncan. He added that for most hog farmers, exports are the only way to be profitable.

China’s new taxes on U.S. pork products could mean long-term financial difficulties, especially for independent farmers like him.

“The reality is 95 percent of the world population is outside these borders. We need them…as markets and trading partners,” Duncan said.

Aliqismet BADALOV,
“Khalq qazeti”