Event details
Date: February 19
Time: 12-1 p.m., CST
Location: Virtual (Zoom)
Registration: Eventbrite
Investigate Midwest, in collaboration with the Arkansas Times and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, will host a free, live virtual panel at noon on Feb. 19, examining how China’s global investment strategy and trade tensions are reshaping U.S. agriculture, with a particular focus on soybean farmers, who depend heavily on export markets.
The discussion builds on recent investigative reporting by Investigate Midwest and the Arkansas Times that has documented China’s multi-million investment in ports and agricultural infrastructure across Latin America, including Brazil and Peru, as well as the impacts of tariffs and trade wars on U.S. farmers in states across the Midwest.
“By the late 1980s, the United States was championing a global economic order built around freer trade, laying the groundwork for institutions like the World Trade Organization and for agreements meant to knit markets closer together,” said Mónica Cordero, one of the panelists and reporter with Investigate Midwest. “Today, by raising tariffs on major trading partners, Washington is moving in the opposite direction. And American agriculture is among the industries bearing the steepest costs.”
Last year, trade disruptions left many farmers navigating unsold grain, reduced cash flow, and growing uncertainty about whether their operations could remain viable in a changing global market.
“America’s agricultural sector is undergoing a generational change due to the global trade war, and recent reporting has shown just how significant this change will be for many years to come,” said Ben Felder, editor-in-chief of Investigate Midwest. “There are few topics more important for farmers and the food system in general than this.”
Confirmed panelists include:
- Mónica Cordero, data and investigative journalist, Investigate Midwest
- Phillip Powell, agriculture and environment reporter, Arkansas Times
- April Hemmes, Iowa soybean farmer, past United Soybean Board farmer-director
- Dr. Joanna Colussi, assistant professor of agricultural economics
- Dr. Jared Phillips, historian and farmer, University of Arkansas
Ben Felder will moderate the discussion.
The panel is free to attend and will feature a moderated discussion followed by audience Q&A with time reserved for submitted and live questions.
“We want this conversation to not only speak to the experience of farmers today, but also look at the solutions being proposed to address these big problems,” said Lauren Cross, assistant editor and audience engagement manager at Investigate Midwest.
Meet the panelists
Dr. Joana Colussi
Purdue University
Dr. Joana Colussi is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. Her research addresses commercial agriculture and production economics, with a focus on technology adoption, farm management, and international agriculture. She also works as an extension educator and has collaborated closely with key stakeholders in the U.S. Midwest, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Prior to joining the faculty at Purdue, Dr. Colussi worked as an instructor and extension educator, and previously as a postdoctoral researcher, in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Born and raised in Brazil, Colussi is recognized for her expert analysis of crop market trends in South America.
April Hemmes
Iowa farmer
April Hemmes is a fourth-generation soybean and corn farmer in north-central Iowa, where she farms land that has been in her family for more than a century. Based near Hampton, she grows soybeans and corn and has farmed full-time for decades, navigating market volatility, export demand, and shifting trade dynamics firsthand. Hemmes served as a farmer-director on the United Soybean Board, where she has held leadership roles focused on domestic and international market development. A frequent speaker on agricultural trade and sustainability, she brings a producer’s perspective to discussions about how trade policy decisions affect U.S. farmers. She was named an Iowa Master Farmer in 2024.
Mónica Cordero
Investigate Midwest
Mónica Cordero is a data and investigative journalist at Investigate Midwest based in Iowa, and a member of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. Her recent reporting focuses on agricultural trade, farm economics, and food supply chains, with particular attention to how global policy decisions affect farmers and rural communities. Cordero has led and contributed to investigations on China’s growing investment in Latin America, declining U.S. soybean exports, and the ripple effects of trade policy across the Midwest, using data analysis and public records to connect developments in Brazil and South America to U.S. agriculture. She is a graduate of the University of Costa Rica and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
Phillip Powell
Arkansas Times
Phillip Powell is an agriculture and environment reporter at the Arkansas Times and a Report for America corps member based in Little Rock. His most recent reporting focuses on Arkansas agriculture, with particular attention to soybeans, trade policy, and the economic pressures facing row-crop farmers in the Delta. Powell has closely covered the impacts of U.S.-China trade tensions, including how tariff escalations, shifting export markets, and China’s growing reliance on South American suppliers have affected Arkansas farmers. Drawing on reporting from farm fields, state data, and federal policy, he connects global trade decisions to their real-world consequences for producers across the state.
Dr. Jared Phillips
University of Arkansas
Jared Phillips is a writer and farmer with deep roots in the Arkansas hill country. He and his wife farm above the Muddy Fork of the Illinois River, relying on draft horses for their farm work. He’s a historian at the University of Arkansas where he teaches Ozark and rural history and is working on a history of the Ozark Organic Growers Association and the development of the USDA Organic program. In addition to his academic book Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks, other work can be found in Front Porch Republic, Skipjack Review, the Arkansas Times, and the Arkansas-Democrat Gazette.
Ben Felder, moderator
Ben Felder is Investigate Midwest editor-in-chief. He was hired in 2023 to cover agribusiness and the meat industry in Oklahoma. Felder previously worked for The Oklahoman as a political enterprise reporter blending narrative storytelling, data analysis and investigative reporting to cover the state’s political leaders, the influences behind them, and their impact on everyday Oklahomans. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and a graduate of Trevecca University in Nashville, Felder lives in Oklahoma City with his wife, Lori, and son, Satchel.
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