USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Phil Karsting says a greater number of people entering the middle class is resulting in more U.S. soybean exports.
"Every other row of those soybeans is getting exported somewhere outside the United States," said Karsting, "and every fourth row is essentially going to China."
Karsting was on hand when Chinese buyers signed an agreement in Des Moines last week to purchase 5.1 million tons of U.S. soybeans worth $2.1 billion. Only six weeks ago, China committed to buy 146 million bushels of soybeans worth $1.8 billion. He tells Brownfield that with greater wealth among the emerging middle class globally, people choose to eat more meat, milk and poultry.
"Soybeans play an important role in that," said Karsting. "Whether we're shipping cattle on the hoof, or poultry in a box from the United States, you can often count that a lot of that contains U.S. soybeans and U.S. corn."
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