American farmers still working to get out their remaining soybeans after a weather-plagued harvest season are struggling to figure out what to do with a record crop now their traditionally dominant export market is largely closed reports the Chicago Tribune.
Usually by this point in the year, 100-car trains filled with North Dakota soybeans would be moving to ports on the West Coast destined for China. But this year is different, after China all but stopped buying U.S. soybeans in response to trade tariffs. Fearful of economic failure, farmers are frantically trying to determine how to store a potentially 1 billion-bushel surplus until it can be sold at a decent price.
Farmers have been mostly patient with President Trump and his plans to realign trade deals to improve U.S. interests, but the loss of markets is hitting their bank accounts hard.
Meanwhile, more beans are going into storage than usual, and this could have an impact on the price of the 2019 crop.
Read the full report here.
