Trade Keeps Close Eye On South America Drought

Feb 11, 2022

With the release of the USDA WASDE report this week, there was plenty of talk surrounding the weather in South America.

Dan Basse is President of AgResource Company in Chicago.

"It's one of the worst droughts we can find looking backwards in four decades. Southern Brazil, Argentina have been enduring drought going all the way back now to the middle of November. That drought looks to persist. The forecasts are dry for at least another couple of weeks," he said. "Crop numbers are declining and we would expect USDA and future reports to make those adjustments also. Ultimately, we think there may be another nine million metric tons fall in the Brazilian crop, maybe another three or four in Argentina and two in Paraguay."

Basse says that will add up to about another fourteen million metric tons and that will probably get us close to where we need to be with soybeans trading just below $16 a bushel in Chicago.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.