Soybean farmers across Missouri and Kansas say they’re bracing for another financial hit as the ongoing trade war between the United States and China deepens.”There’s a lot of three-podders in here, which is really good for us,” said Highland, Kansas, farmer Brett Neibling as he inspected his crop Monday afternoon. “They’re looking pretty good.”While the crop may look good, the outlook on the soybean markets is not. China, the biggest purchaser of U.S. soybeans, hasn’t bought any since May due to tariffs and a worsening trade war between the two countries.”It’s a tough, tough environment for soybean farmers,” Neibling said.Besides farming soybeans in this northeast corner of Kansas for nearly his whole life, Neibling is also the president of the Kansas Soybean Association. He said most of the farmers he represents are worried because the market never fully bounced back from the 2018 trade war with China that deeply hurt soybean farmers across the U.S.”That’s where I think most of the, you know, people’s anxiety is coming from,” he said. “We’ve never really recovered from ’18, and now we’re going in even deeper.”Analysts agree, saying China found other countries to buy soybeans from in 2018, and it’s happening again now. Gbenga Ajilore, former senior adviser for rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said China has already been building long-term alternatives.”China started purchasing from Brazil and, to a little extent, Argentina ,” Ajilore said. “So when they went back to purchasing, they didn’t go back to the same level. The same thing is happening here, where they have these other alternatives for getting soybeans from Brazil. And the big thing is that Argentina just recently dropped its export taxes, which gives China even more incentive not to purchase from us.”And that’s leading many farmers, even those who help lead soybean associations, to start rethinking their planting strategies. “If we have to put more corn in, we will have to put more corn in,” Neibling said. “And that’s just the way life will have to be.”He’s also concerned that the longer this trade war persists, some soybean farmers may decide to stop planting beans entirely. “We really need to get a trade deal,” Neibling said.The Trump administration is still negotiating that trade deal with China and is also working on a potential aid package to soybean farmers if no deal is reached. Details on that aid package could be released as early as Tuesday this week.
Soybean farmers across Missouri and Kansas say they’re bracing for another financial hit as the ongoing trade war between the United States and China deepens.
“There’s a lot of three-podders in here, which is really good for us,” said Highland, Kansas, farmer Brett Neibling as he inspected his crop Monday afternoon. “They’re looking pretty good.”
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While the crop may look good, the outlook on the soybean markets is not. China, the biggest purchaser of U.S. soybeans, hasn’t bought any since May due to tariffs and a worsening trade war between the two countries.
“It’s a tough, tough environment for soybean farmers,” Neibling said.
Besides farming soybeans in this northeast corner of Kansas for nearly his whole life, Neibling is also the president of the Kansas Soybean Association. He said most of the farmers he represents are worried because the market never fully bounced back from the 2018 trade war with China that deeply hurt soybean farmers across the U.S.
“That’s where I think most of the, you know, people’s anxiety is coming from,” he said. “We’ve never really recovered from ’18, and now we’re going in even deeper.”
Analysts agree, saying China found other countries to buy soybeans from in 2018, and it’s happening again now.
Gbenga Ajilore, former senior adviser for rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said China has already been building long-term alternatives.
“China started purchasing from Brazil and, to a little extent, Argentina [in 2018],” Ajilore said. “So when they went back to purchasing, they didn’t go back to the same level. The same thing is happening here, where they have these other alternatives for getting soybeans from Brazil. And the big thing is that Argentina just recently dropped its export taxes, which gives China even more incentive not to purchase from us.”
And that’s leading many farmers, even those who help lead soybean associations, to start rethinking their planting strategies.
“If we have to put more corn in, we will have to put more corn in,” Neibling said. “And that’s just the way life will have to be.”
He’s also concerned that the longer this trade war persists, some soybean farmers may decide to stop planting beans entirely.
“We really need to get a trade deal,” Neibling said.
The Trump administration is still negotiating that trade deal with China and is also working on a potential aid package to soybean farmers if no deal is reached. Details on that aid package could be released as early as Tuesday this week.