According to Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) President Michael Petefish, the price of soybeans has “dropped nearly 20 percent since the tariffs were first proposed this spring.”
Tariffs on soybeans have left soybean producers across the nation wondering what the future will hold.
Photo courtesy of MetroCreativeConnection
With the already low commodity prices for soybeans, China’s tariff has become a huge concern in Minnesota, said Randy Pepin, interim crops educator at the University of Minnesota Extension.
In 2017, the United States produced 4.39 billion bushels of soybeans, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Of that figure, Minnesota growers contributed with 380.23 million bushels.
The amount varies by county. In Minnesota, the largest soybean producing county in 2017 was Polk County with 12.3 million bushels. Anoka County produced the least with 143,000 bushels.
The numbers vary in Central Minnesota, as well. Morrison County produced more than 1.5 million bushels in 2017. Growers in Todd County produced nearly 2.1 million bushels, Benton 1.4 million bushels and Stearns County more than 5.2 million bushels.
China purchases 61 percent of the total U.S. soybean exports, which equates to nearly $14 billion annually, said Doug Monson, MSGA director of public relations.
“Soybeans are Minnesota’s top export and number one cash export,” he said.
The normal expectation of "vote the rascals out" flounders on the fact that rural Minnesota really voted heavily to put the rascals in, they are those voters' rascals and not mine, so what are the rural Minnesota brain trust voters to do next? The sensible? Or something else?