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Iowa farmer concerned about lack of Chinese soybean purchases

A southeast Iowa soybean farmer says he’s concerned about the lack of soy purchases from China.

Tom Adam, who also serves as president-elect of the Iowa Soybean Association, says China typically buys nearly 25% of the country’s production.

“It weighs on the markets and it weighs on everybody’s mind right now,” he said. “We can’t replace that market with any other destination in one year.”

He tells Brownfield the outlook isn’t favorable.

“China is still at zero for the new crop. That’s very concerning. With a 20% tariff over what Brazil traders get, they are probably not going to look for our soybeans.”

Adam says there’s a possibility some U.S. growers will have to carryover a lot of their soybeans.