By Joana Colussi and Michael Langemeier
Brazil’s rise as a dominant force in global soybean markets has become a central concern for U.S. producers. In the January 2026 Purdue University Ag Economy Barometer survey, 44% of U.S. farmers indicated they were “very concerned” and 36% reported being “concerned” about the competitiveness of U.S. soybean exports relative to Brazil (Langemeier & Colussi, 2026). Since surpassing the United States as the world’s largest soybean producer in 2018, Brazil has continued to expand its presence in global export markets. This article compares the U.S. and Brazilian soybean sectors using farm-level production cost data from 2020 to 2024. Standardized economic data from the agribenchmark network is used to identify key differences in costs and competitiveness between the two countries.
Methods and Data
Soybean competitiveness is analyzed using data from one typical farm in Iowa, United States, and one in Mato Grosso, Brazil – major agricultural regions in their respective countries. Together, Brazil and the United States produce nearly 70% of the world’s soybeans (USDA-FAS, 2025). The study period, from 2020 to 2024, includes two major market shocks: the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war. The average soybean area planted over these years was 5,900 acres on the Brazilian farm and 1,800 acres on the U.S. farm. Costs and revenues are expressed in U.S. dollars to enable direct cross-country comparisons.
The data were sourced from the agribenchmark network, which systematically compiles production and economic information on beef, cash crops, dairy, pigs, poultry, horticulture, and organic products across 35 countries in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The agribenchmark concept of typical farms was developed to facilitate the analysis and comparison of prevailing farm production systems worldwide. Participants follow standardized procedures to construct typical farms that reflect national production shares and are classified by production systems, enterprise combinations, and structural characteristics (Langemeier, 2024).
Source : illinois.edu