"As China's economy has improved, the country has sought out more growth-boosting, high-protein soybean to feed its growing number of livestock such as pork and poultry. As the world's biggest soybean buyer, China last year bought $12.6 billion worth of soybean from the U.S.-accounting for more than half of America's total exports of the crop, which is its biggest agricultural export."
"Caleb Ragland, a ninth-generation farmer from Kentucky and president of the American Soybean Association, said during a congressional hearing in October that the price of farm production, including land costs, seed, and fertilizer, have skyrocketed while agriculture margins continue to fall. "For soybean farmers, the loss of our largest export market due to trade retaliation by China has made financial problems even worse," Ragland said."
China increased demand for high-protein soybeans to feed expanding pork and poultry herds, becoming the world's largest soybean buyer and purchasing $12.6 billion from the U.S. last year, over half of American soybean exports. The U.S.-China trade war and Chinese tariffs delayed China's usual early fall commitments to buy U.S. soybeans, prompting China to rely more on South American imports, particularly Brazil. China also expanded domestic soybean acreage and production by significant amounts since 2015. U.S. soybean farmers face rising production costs and falling margins, with expected losses around $109 an acre for the year's crop.
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