North Dakota farmer Monte Peterson had planned to plant more soybeans than corn this year. He says that’s now up in the air, as the soy market may take a while to adjust to the tariffs.
The predicament of Illinois soybean and corn farmer Chris Gould is probably more typical. Gould said he plans to get out his spreadsheets to calculate profitability and see if a change is needed, but it may be too late to alter course.
Most North American farmers have by now purchased seed, fertilizer and other inputs based on what they intend to plant in the spring. Even though they can tweak their plans, those big costs largely lock them in.
Furthermore, freezing temperatures and snow in the Midwest are keeping some farmers off their fields right now. Adverse weather could end up having a greater impact on acreage than concerns about trade tariffs because soybeans can be planted later than corn.
April Hemmes, an Iowa farmer, is one farmer waiting for the snow to melt so that planting can begin. She says she sold 25 percent of her upcoming soybean crop on Tuesday amid uncertainty about what China might do and also because of earlier price gains.
“Let’s just hope this is a war of words and none of these tariffs are ever enacted,” she said. “These words and actions cost farmers real money.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.