Anxiety grips row-hit US soybean farmers

BASKERVILLE, the United States - John Boyd Junior, a fourth-generation farmer in the US state of Virginia, has only planted about one-fourth of his soybean crop so far this year. "I am part worried and part frustrated and I'm very disappointed," he said.

At his family farm in Baskerville, southern Virginia, Boyd said last month that the planting window is closing for his soybeans. "If my crop isn't planted one month from right now ... then it's all over for me, and not just for me,(but also) for other American farmers," he said.

Boyd owns 700 acres of tillable land, with 400 acres of soybeans, and some corn and wheat. He was planning to expand his farm operation last year, but the US-initiated trade frictions with China over the past few months have put the 53-year-old farmer on edge.