Kennard, Nebraska, feels a long way from Beijing or even Washington, D.C.
But as the United States and China remain locked in a trade war, the Cornhusker State and its farmers like Scott Thomsen are caught in the middle of the conflict.
Thomsen, a fourth-generation farmer who farms corn, cattle and soybeans, was preparing to harvest soybeans planted last winter – at a moment when China has stopped purchasing American soybeans in response to the Trump administration's tariffs.
In the seven years leading up to the 2018 trade war during the first Trump administration, roughly 60% of all U.S. soybean exports went to China.
Today, Beijing is turning to South America, and particularly to Brazil, for soybeans amid trade negotiations with the United States.
For American farmers who export their harvests directly to Asia, the evaporation of Chinese demand for soybeans -- at a time when fertilizer and other inputs have become more expensive -- could potentially be devastating, and lead to bankruptcies and foreclosures.
"It's just a massive shock to our markets," Cory Walters, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska, told ABC News.
Farmers are more resilient than most people, Thomsen added, used to weathering the boom-and-bust cycles of years past.
"This is not an easy life. Why do you guys choose this? Why does this matter?" ABC News' Matt Rivers asked Thomsen.
"I would say there's a few days in the middle of winter and middle of summer that everybody asks themselves that question," Thomsen replied.
"But you stick with it," Rivers said.
"It's a passion. It's a tradition. It' a hobby," Thomsen said.
"There's farmers in our area that have full-time jobs and they'll do it after working on the weekends. That's what they grew up doing and people have a lot of passion for it," he added.