{"id":31738,"date":"2026-02-26T10:30:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=31738"},"modified":"2026-02-26T10:33:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:33:32","slug":"illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><h4><\/h4>\n<p>A view of Illinois soybeans being harvested from the cab of a combine. (Medill Illinois News Bureau\/courtesy Albers Farms, Blue Mound, Illinois)<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farmers, many of whom voted for Trump, say they&#8217;d prefer stable trade over a government check<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>By REBECKA PIEDER<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medill Illinois News Bureau<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"mailto:news@capitolnewsillinois.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">news@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the end of February, Illinois soybean farmers are set to receive special federal payments through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A total of $12 billion nationwide, with $11 billion earmarked for farmers producing row crops, is to be made available to farmers who suffered losses following international trade disputes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the payments offer some relief, farmers say they are not enough, and the Illinois Department of Agriculture warns that damage to key trading relationships may have long-term consequences for Illinois farmers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CHAMPAIGN \u2014 Illinois soybean farmers are set to receive special federal payments at the end of February meant to offset losses from last year\u2019s trade disruptions. But while farmers welcome the relief, many say it will only provide temporary respite.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Illinois soybean farmers have been caught in a cost squeeze after years of financial pressure tied to rising input costs, shifting export markets and falling grain prices. The strain intensified when China \u2014 Illinois\u2019 largest export market for soybeans \u2014 sharply reduced purchases amid escalating tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, prompting Gov. JB Pritzker to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com\/gov-pritzker-issues-executive-order-to-support-illinois-farmers-amid-trumps-tariffs\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">declare<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a state of emergency for Illinois agriculture last fall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While China has recently <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china\/analysts-say-china-less-likely-buy-us-soy-after-supreme-court-decision-2026-02-20\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">increased<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> U.S. soybean purchases under a different trade agreement, many farmers worry that the country&#8217;s shift toward suppliers in South America could have lasting effects on Illinois agriculture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lance Muirhead, a seventh-generation farmer in Macon County, calls the temporary federal help \u2014 known as bridge payments \u2014 a &#8220;necessary evil.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI hate to rely on government aid, and especially ad-hoc payments like that,&#8221; Muirhead, 29, said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just a Band-Aid and it&#8217;s not covering the whole wound.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Illinois is the top producer of soybeans in the country, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilsoy.org\/illinois-remains-top-producing-soybean-state-in-2025\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">harvesting<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over 639 million bushels in 2025 \u2014 approximately 17.4 million metric tons. In 2024, the U.S. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/farmdocdaily.illinois.edu\/2025\/11\/us-china-soybean-deal-comparing-past-export-levels-and-global-market-impacts.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">exported<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 26.8 million metric tons of soybeans to China, with Illinois alone <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/chicago\/2025\/11\/17\/illinois-farmers-china-soybean-delay\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">accounting<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for $1.4 billion in sales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2025, China halted imports of U.S. soybeans for several months before a November <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/farmpolicynews.illinois.edu\/2025\/10\/china-to-buy-12-million-tons-of-us-soybeans-this-year-bessent-says\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">trade agreement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in which China committed to purchasing 12 million metric tons \u2013 a target that represents a sharp decrease from 2024 levels, and which ultimately wasn&#8217;t <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/farmpolicynews.illinois.edu\/2026\/01\/china-reaches-12-million-ton-us-soybean-purchase-pledge\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fulfilled<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> until early 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/about-usda\/news\/press-releases\/2025\/12\/08\/trump-administration-announces-12-billion-farmer-bridge-payments-american-farmers-impacted-unfair\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">announced<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the \u201cFarmer Bridge Assistance Program,\u201d authorized under the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fsa.usda.gov\/Internet\/FSA_File\/ccc_charter_act.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Of the $12 billion being made available, the USDA said, $11 billion is earmarked for farmers who produce row crops, to cover the losses felt during the suspension. Those <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/illinois-ag-director-says-trump-trade-policies-are-crushing-farmers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">include<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> corn and soybeans, the two biggest crops in Illinois.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u2018I don\u2019t want it to hurt anymore\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rob Albers, 60, a sixth-generation farmer in Macon County, welcomes the payments, while acknowledging they won&#8217;t cover what he&#8217;s lost.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;The payment I&#8217;m going to get doesn&#8217;t even pay the interest on my operating line for a year,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll take it, but I&#8217;m not sure how helpful that dollar amount is going to be.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Albers said he voted for Donald Trump for president, hoping he would fix what Albers saw as an unfair trade relationship with foreign markets. He still believes in building new domestic markets and understood that tariffs would bring disruption. But after last year\u2019s losses, he said he has felt the cost first-hand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;The reality is, even though I said then, &#8216;I want this to happen, and I know it&#8217;s going to hurt, and we&#8217;re going to have to give a little&#8217;, well, now it hurts,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And I don&#8217;t like it anymore. I don&#8217;t want it to hurt anymore.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jerry Costello II, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said that while the payments will cover <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/illinois-ag-director-says-trump-trade-policies-are-crushing-farmers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">some of the losses <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">felt during the fall, it is not a long-term solution. Stable relationships with trading partners, he said, are key to ensuring that customers don\u2019t look elsewhere for agricultural imports.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe reason that countries have done business with the state of Illinois and the United States is because of the stability of the relationship that we\u2019ve always brought,\u201d Costello said. \u201cAs well as the quality of our commodities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read more: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/illinois-ag-director-says-trump-trade-policies-are-crushing-farmers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Illinois ag director says Trump trade policies are \u2018crushing\u2019 farmers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the Supreme Court recently <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/02\/20\/us\/trump-tariffs-supreme-court\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">struck<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> down much of the legal basis for Trump&#8217;s tariffs, it\u2019s unclear whether that will mean tariff relief for farmers in the U.S. The administration has signaled it <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/23\/what-supreme-court-tariff-ruling-means-for-global-trade-us-economy.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will pursue new tariff authority<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and Costello fears that the long-term damage to trade relationships is already done. Nowhere is that concern more acute than with China.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China typically accounts for more than half of U.S. soybean exports, but after trade tensions escalated in recent years, it increased purchases from South America. Although China has recently ramped up U.S. soybean purchases, Costello said he worries the state\u2019s largest trade partner may continue looking elsewhere for supplies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy major concern is that a lot of that market may not come back,\u201d Costello said. \u201cIt makes it extremely difficult for our younger farmers and our family farms. We\u2019ll be dealing with this for decades to come.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Trade tensions self-inflicted<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Competition from South American producers has created new pressure on Illinois growers, according to the Illinois Soybean Association, which works to maintain and create trade relationships for farmers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Todd Main, the association\u2019s director of market development, said he is accustomed to market uncertainty driven by weather and other natural disruptions, but recent trade tensions feel different.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe\u2019ve elected to have these problems,\u201d Main said. \u201cIf you take your best customer and you poke them in the eye, they may have a hard time seeing the value of the relationship.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kevin Johnson, director of government relations and strategy at the soybean association, emphasized the need for predictability from the federal government. While markets will naturally ebb and flow, a mid-year wrench like tariffs negatively impacts farmers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFarmers work in long-term cycles,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cJust give us certainty and we\u2019ll work through it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A soybean farmer himself, Johnson said that while the past few years have been challenging, he remains hopeful that there are better times ahead. \u201cFarmers are eternal optimists,\u201d he said. \u201cWe put a seed in the ground and hope it grows. Somehow it always comes up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rebecka Pieder is a graduate student in journalism with Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, and is a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> A view of Illinois soybeans being harvested from the cab of a combine. (Medill Illinois News Bureau\/courtesy Albers Farms, Blue Mound, Illinois) Farmers, many of whom voted for Trump, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":31741,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T16:30:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T16:33:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/soybean-field.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"777\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Greg Sapp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Greg Sapp\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Greg Sapp\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1\"},\"headline\":\"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-26T16:30:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-26T16:33:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1181,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/soybean-field.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/\",\"name\":\"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/soybean-field.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-26T16:30:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-26T16:33:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/soybean-field.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/soybean-field.jpg\",\"width\":1140,\"height\":777},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/local-news\\\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/premier-logo-v1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/premier-logo-v1.png\",\"width\":272,\"height\":69,\"caption\":\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1\",\"name\":\"Greg Sapp\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thexradio.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/greg_sapp\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","og_description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/","og_site_name":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","article_published_time":"2026-02-26T16:30:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-26T16:33:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1140,"height":777,"url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/soybean-field.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Greg Sapp","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Greg Sapp","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/"},"author":{"name":"Greg Sapp","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1"},"headline":"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage","datePublished":"2026-02-26T16:30:56+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-26T16:33:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/"},"wordCount":1181,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/soybean-field.jpg","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/","name":"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/soybean-field.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-26T16:30:56+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-26T16:33:32+00:00","description":"Effingham's News and Sports Leader","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/soybean-field.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/soybean-field.jpg","width":1140,"height":777},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/31738-illinois-soybean-farmers-welcome-federal-aid-but-fear-long-term-trade-damage\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Illinois Soybean Farmers Welcome Federal Aid, but Fear Long-Term Trade Damage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/","name":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/premier-logo-v1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/premier-logo-v1.png","width":272,"height":69,"caption":"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ea4a7a4f3418a551e6319888ef00a8f1","name":"Greg Sapp","url":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/author\/greg_sapp\/"}]}},"modified_by":"Greg Sapp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31738"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31745,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31738\/revisions\/31745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}