Between the lines: Unlike corn, soybeans don't store well, so farmers are risking their livelihoods for an economic detente that isn't guaranteed.

• Soy had become one of the few bright spots in the American farming market given Chinese demand, so production has reached record levels just as demand crashed.
• But many farmers have the same idea, pushing potential soy storage areas like containers and silos to the limit, forcing some to resort to one-time-use plastic bags. "I’ve heard farmers and commercial companies putting corn and soybeans into tool sheds and caves," Soren Schroder, the CEO of Bunge, the world’s largest processor of soybeans, told Bloomberg.

What's next: Bloomberg pegs soybean futures at $9.27 for next July, meaning that farmers could at least recoup some of their cash — even if it won't be at levels like earlier this year — as hope springs that the U.S. and China could reach a soybean deal at the G-20.

Go deeper:

• Soybeans are an unlikely political ground zero in Trump's trade war
• China figures out how to live without U.S. lobster and soybeans
• Split Congress could be good news for farm economy