The leafy soybean plants are reaching his thighs on his Kentucky farm, ripe for harvest, but Caleb Ragland is deeply worried. He doesn't know where he and other farmers will sell their crop because China, which traditionally has snapped up at least a quarter of all soybeans grown in the U.S., has stopped buying. “This is a five-alarm fire for our industry,” said Ragland, who leads the American Soybean Association trade group. Beijing in effect is boycotting American soybeans in retaliation for the high tariffs that President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods and to strengthen its hand in negotiations over a new overall trade deal. This has left American soybean farmers fretting over not only this year's harvest but the long-term viability of their businesses, built in part on China's once insatiable appetite for U.S. beans. The situation might even be enough to test farmers’ loyalty to Trump, although he still enjoys strong support throughout rural America. If no deal is reached soon, they hope the government will come through with aid as it did during Trump's first term, but they see that only as a temporary solution. What farmers expect from Trump“The American farmer, especially myself included, is we don’t want aid payments," said Brian Warpup, 52, a fourth-generation farmer from Warren, Indiana. “We want to work. We work the land, we harvest the land, the crop off the land. And the worst thing that we could ever want is a handout.” U.S. and Chinese officials have held four rounds of trade talks between May and September, with another likely in the coming weeks. No progress on soybeans has been reported. Political pressure is growing after Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, China responded with tariffs of its own, which now total up to 34% on U.S. soybeans. That makes them soybeans from other countries cheaper. And China has been by far the largest foreign buyer. Last year, the U.S. exported nearly $24.5 billion worth of soybeans and China accounted for more than $12.5 billion, compared with $2.45 billion by the European Union, the second-largest buyer. With U.S. farmers hurting, the Trump administration is under growing pressure to reach a deal with China. But as talks drag on, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has suggested the administration is considering an aid package. Ragland said farmers are looking to the president for a solution: “I think the message that our soybean farmers as a whole want to deliver is ’President Trump, we’ve had your back. We need you to have ours now. We either need trade immediately. We need markets that lead to strong prices for our soybeans, or there is going to have to be an economic bridge to help us survive these times.”