Kansas Soybean Association concerned about farm bankruptcies

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) - The CEO of the Kansas Soybean Association tells KSN that he's worried about Sunflower State soybean farmers going bankrupt this year.

Kansas farmers are beginning to harvest their roughly 4 million acres of soybean crops, but their biggest buyer, China, is looking to other countries to meet its soybean needs this year.

Kansas Soybean Association CEO Kaleb Little says that U.S. and Kansas farmers have become less dependent on China since 2018, but as of now, there's no way to replace their top customer.

"Global politics and the geopolitical landscape between the two countries is messy, and there's a lot more to that than agriculture, but really one of the biggest retaliatory pieces that they are using against the U.S. in that fight is agricultural products," said Little.

If a deal is not reached for this year's soybean crop, Little says it could mean serious financial consequences for Kansas farmers.

"We expect to see farm bankruptcies, unfortunately. 2025 USDA data showed twice as many Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings in the first half of the year as we saw in the previous year," he said.

Little also says that while things look rough now for Kansas soybean farmers, they remain optimistic that the U.S. and China can still figure out a deal that will get China back to purchasing soybeans from the U.S.