WASHINGTON Donald Trump is telling farmers theyll need more land, more tractors and more bigger and better and more powerful tractors and fast because of the incredible deal he has made with China for the purchase of $50 billion in U.S. farm goods.

Farmers, though, may want to hold off on signing a loan for that half-million-dollar combine: It appears the president has gotten his numbers mixed up and has overstated his boast by about 100 percent on a deal that has not even been finalized.

Theres a lot of misunderstanding out there, said Darin Von Ruden, a dairy farmer in Westby, Wisconsin, and president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union. He added that farmers were initially optimistic when Trump announced the deal ending his trade war this month, but have come to see that that feeling may have been premature. The numbers are what they are.

A senior administration official confirmed on condition of anonymity that the $40-$50 billion figure Trump has been touting is for two years of agricultural purchases, not one meaning that if a deal is actually completed using those numbers, it would merely restore agricultural sales to China to where they were before Trump began his tariff dispute .

Van Ruden said from what he has been able to determine, the Chinese have not made any firm pledges, and could continue to buy from Brazil and Argentina unless U.S. growers drop their prices. Theres no guarantee at all in this they will be buying from American farmers, he said.

Trump, nevertheless, has been bragging about the as yet unwritten, unsigned deal since his Oct. 11 Oval Office meeting with the vice premier of China, Liu He.

A tremendous deal for the farmers. A purchase of from 40 to 50 billion dollars worth of agricultural products, Trump said during a photo opportunity with Liu. So Id suggest the farmers have to go and immediately buy more land and get bigger tractors. Theyll be available at John Deere and a lot of other great distributors.