Mike Pearson tells listeners about America's troubled relationship with China.

The topic is expected to be hot on the campaign trail during this year's presidential election.

Few sectors of the economy are as connected to China more than agriculture.

Thirty years of population growth and debt-financed urbanization have brought hundreds of millions to the urban market for food.

American farmers have met the demand.

Ag exports to China totaled $2 billion in 2021. In 2022, the value exploded to $36.5 billion with China buying ethanol, cotton and beef.

But the Chinese have been working to reduce their dependency in agriculture since the trade war in 2018.

The House Ag Committee Chair GT Thompson of Pennsylvania says looking forward, the Chinese pose threats that are multi-faceted and strategic and require a pro-active response.

In response, Congress held a five hour long hearing-- "The danger China poses to American agriculture."

Testimony was held from all parts of agriculture. There was testimony about potential cyber attacks and how food companies and other agriculture companies aren't prepared for wide spread ransom attacks on their computer systems and they don't have the ability to respond in the middle of an attack.

Also, the South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem testified she is concerned about foreign land ownership and the USA needs to better monitor foreign investments in large transactions.

Both Republicans and Democrats were active in the hearing.

Legislators were reminded that the meeting was about foreign policy not people policy.

Farm Progress America is a daily look at key issues in agriculture. It is produced and presented by Mike Pearson, farm broadcaster and host of This Week in Agribusiness.