US farming family frets about trade friction with China

CHICAGO - For the Stewart family, which has farmed for three generations on a vast stretch of land in the northeastern part of Illinois in central United States, farming is more than just a career.

Farming, for the Stewarts, is a lifestyle, and as a result, they believe US trade disputes with China need to be avoided for the prospect of agricultural exports.

The family moved to Yorkville, about 80 kilometers southwest of Chicago, in the 1940s, and has been devoted to farming ever since. Today, the Stewart Farms Partnership operates about 9,000 acres (3,645 hectares) of farmland in northern and central Illinois.