'Nobody wins in a trade war when food and agriculture are involved'

He received Chinese leader Xi Jinping six years ago on his family farm in Iowa. Half a world away, he is helping to run a China-US agricultural demonstration farm in Hebei province, and serving as honorary dean of an agricultural college that bears his name.

How is Rick Kimberley faring in Maxwell, Iowa, now that the two countries are on the verge of a trade war where tit-for-tat tariffs are putting agriculture in the crosshairs?

I spoke with him at the weekend via WeChat, the most popular messaging app in China. Kimberley appeared in the video as suntanned and sanguine as he was when I met him a few weeks ago. But talking about his rolling corn and soybean fields, he had mixed feelings.