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ASA rep says too soon to know if tariffs will affect planting decisions

An American Soybean Association board member says any Chinese tariffs on U.S. soybeans might make growers re-think their planting intentions.  Huron, South Dakota farmer Brandon Wipf tells Brownfield there is time if adjustments are necessary.  “We are certainly still early enough that acres can move around and respond to the big moves in the big moves in the market that we are seeing today.”

When asked about the possibility of leaving acreage idle versus losing money on soybeans if the market goes south, Wipf says he won’t do that.  “I have no plans to do that.  Obviously, we’ll put our ground to work somehow, even if we plant cover crops on it, I suppose that’s considered meeting some really important goals for farmers.  I don’t know whether they will go that far, but we’ve yet to see just how low soybean prices might be laid.”

Sixty percent of American soybeans are exported, and 14-billion dollars’ worth of those soybeans went to China.  Soybean leaders and market analysts say China’s proposed 25% tariff would make U.S. beans uncompetitive in the Chinese market for a while, but one analyst believes China will eventually need American soybeans.  Wipf says American soybean growers lost more than a billion dollars in value when the markets fell Wednesday morning.