China’s state-owned COFCO bought three U.S. soybean cargoes. the country’s first purchases from this year’s U.S. harvest, shortly before a summit of leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Tuesday he is hopeful the Trump administration will come up with a plan to “improve morale among farmers” in response to the apparent loss of the Chinese soybean export market. 

The U.S. soybean harvest began in September without any orders from the world’s largest buyer: China.

U.S. farmers are missing out on billions of dollars of soybean sales to China halfway through their prime marketing season, as stalled trade talks halt exports and rival South American suppliers step in to fill the gap, traders and analysts said