The price action in the soybean futures market has been ugly over recent weeks. The price of the oilseed plunged as the commodity found itself on the front lines of trade issues facing the world. Each year, China purchases approximately one-quarter of U.S. production of soybeans. However, the wave of protectionism has threatened China’s appetite for U.S. beans this year.
As we headed into the 2018 crop year, farmers in the U.S. planted more beans than corn because of the prices of the two agricultural products. Drought conditions in Argentina sent soybean prices to the