Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is “actually a soybean farmer” and has “felt this pain too” during an October 26, 2025, ABC interview about U.S.–China trade tensions. The remark came from an official whose January 2025 financial disclosure was reported to list at least $521 million in assets. That is a reported asset floor based on broad value ranges—not an exact net-worth calculation—and reported farmland ownership does not establish that he personally operated a farm.
What Scott Bessent said about soybean farmers
In an interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz on October 26, 2025, Bessent said: “Martha, in case you don’t know it, I’m actually a soybean farmer, so I have felt this pain too.” The discussion concerned trade tensions with China and reduced Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans. Axios reported the remark and its context.
Bessent was making a case for the effect of the trade dispute on farmers, not documenting a completed trade outcome. In a separate interview that day, he predicted soybean farmers would be “extremely happy” with the deal “for this year and for the coming years.” That was his forecast, not evidence that the purchases or benefits had occurred. The CBS Face the Nation transcript records his comments on the negotiations and expected purchases.
What the $500 million figure actually represents
Fortune reported that Bessent’s January 2025 financial disclosure listed at least $521 million in assets. The filing used broad value ranges—including categories such as “over $50,000,000”—rather than exact valuations. The headline figure of $500 million is therefore rounded shorthand for reported wealth; it should not be read as a precise, audited net worth. Fortune’s report links the estimate to the disclosure.
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Assets and net worth are not interchangeable measures. The reported figure describes disclosed assets using ranges; it does not establish an exact total of assets minus liabilities. It also does not show how much cash or farm income Bessent had available at the time of his interview.
Does owning farmland make someone a soybean farmer?
October 2025 reporting described Bessent as owning North Dakota corn and soybean farmland that he rented out for income. That supports a distinction between having an interest in agricultural land and personally operating a farm. The cited reporting does not establish that he planted, harvested, or managed the soybean operation day to day. Axios’s account describes the land as rented out.
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- Land ownership: Reported farmland holdings can expose an owner to land values and rental income.
- Farm operation: Ownership alone does not show who performs or manages planting, harvesting, or other farm work.
- Farmers’ trade exposure: Operators affected by crop prices and lost buyers may have different income and financial risks from a landowner receiving rent.
The available reporting establishes Bessent’s statement and reported land interests, but it does not establish that his financial experience matched that of farmers operating soybean farms.
What was reported about divestment of his farmland
On August 13, 2025, Reuters reported that the Office of Government Ethics found some divestitures required under Bessent’s ethics agreement were overdue. Bessent said remaining holdings included farmland, which he described as “an inherently highly illiquid asset,” and said he was working toward completing the required sales by year-end. Reuters reported a December 15 target for remaining divestitures, including North Dakota farmland, based on Treasury officials’ communication to OGE. Reuters’s report, republished by Investing.com, describes the status as of August 2025.
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That dated account and the October reporting do not establish whether Bessent still owned the land after those reports. They do show why ownership, income, and personal farm work should not be treated as the same thing.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read the claim fairly
Bessent’s words express claimed connection to soybean farming and the pain caused by trade tensions. The public information supports that he had reported agricultural land interests, while the financial disclosure indicates substantial assets. It does not prove that he personally operated the farm or experienced the same financial exposure as working farm operators. And his prediction that farmers would benefit from a trade deal should be judged separately from whether that result later materialized.
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