Farmers Rebuild Global Soy Supplies, Record Production Forecast

May 18, 2023

By Julie Deering

In its May 12 World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates report, U.S. Department of Agriculture analysts forecast record global soybean production for the 2023/24 crop year at nearly 410.6 million tons, up almost 11% from last year.

If realized, this will be the largest year-over-year production increase in nearly two decades, shares Jason Grant, W.G. Wysor Professor of Agriculture and Director of the Center for Agricultural Trade at Virginia Tech.

More than half the increase is estimated to come from increased yields in Argentina, after a historic drought. Meanwhile, USDA reports Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay account from more than a quarter of production gains from increased plantings and higher yields across all three countries. U.S. farmers are forecast to plant acreage numbers similar to last year, but projections show higher yields.

“There are always some ups and downs depending on the supply and demand and many different local conditions, says Jim Sutter, U.S. Soybean Export Council Chief Executive Officer. “Currency has challenged some markets limiting imports from what was normal and what is really needed.”

Grant expects with the rebuilding of global grain and oilseed supplies that will normalize soon.

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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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