US loses ground in global soybean market

Jul 10, 2024

US faces growing trade challenges as soybean sales to China plummet

By Farms.com

The agricultural trade landscape in the United States is becoming increasingly challenging, highlighted by a widening trade deficit influenced heavily by declining soybean exports.

USDA economist James Kaufman noted that agricultural exports dropped to $13.7 billion in May, a decrease of nearly 2% from the previous year, culminating in a 5% reduction in total exports for fiscal year 2024 compared to 2023.

The growth in agricultural imports by 4%, spurred by a strong U.S. economy and dollar value, contrasts starkly with the drop in export revenues. The current agricultural trade deficit stands at $15 billion, with an 18% decrease in major bulk commodities.

The decline in soybean exports is particularly striking, with a 23% reduction in shipments to China—from 30.5 million metric tons to 23.4 million metric tons year-over-year.

This downturn is largely due to Brazil's competitive advantages in pricing and supply, leading China to source most of their soybeans from Brazil instead of the United States. Overall, U.S. soybean exports have decreased by 19% this season.

This significant shift in trade dynamics necessitates a reevaluation of U.S. agricultural export strategies, focusing on competitiveness and market adaptability to mitigate the expanding trade deficit and its implications for U.S. farmers.

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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