Record soybean harvest in South America impacts U.S. market

Two South America countries this year will produce record soybean crops, causing concern that demand will wane for U.S. supplies, as well as a market reaction. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Argentina and Brazil will produce 4.48 billion bushels of soybeans, a 36 percent increase over last year, bumping global inventories to 63.8 million tons.
The U.S. is the largest producer and exporter of soybeans, which is the country’s second biggest crop behind corn. But these record South American crops, which follow a harvest impacted last year by drought, and the expectation that farmers in the U.S. won’t be able to get this crop in the ground quickly, caused soybean futures to drop.