US farmers are saying we “just need temporary help, until things get better.”
Here’s the thing. US farm exports- which are mostly soy- CAN’T get better.
Other countries are now fillingl China’s demand.
We’ve walled ourselves out of the global market, folks. This is it.
The thing is, this isn't even the first time US ag has wrecked itself with foolish trade wars.
In the runup to the Civil War, US cotton plantations decided to stop exporting cotton. Why?
Because the British Empire's textile mills ran on cotton from US plantations.
— Sarah Taber (@SarahTaber_bww) September 30, 2025
What actually happened? Egyptian cotton.
With lots of fertile farmland and desperate for something to sell for cash on international markets,
Egypt's leadership dumped resources into building up cotton farming in Egypt.
— Sarah Taber (@SarahTaber_bww) September 30, 2025
This is why it's so important that US agriculture drop the "positive vibes only!" strategy and actually learn from our own mistakes.
So we can stop repeating them already.
Anyway, here's the next Egyptian cotton: Argentine & Brazilian soybeans.https://t.co/DPOqBxzoQR
— Sarah Taber (@SarahTaber_bww) September 30, 2025
US farmers set to harvest tens of millions of tons of soybeans, but face major problem as world’s biggest buyer refuses to purchase, per WSJ
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) October 1, 2025
“China imported 120 million metric tons of soybeans this year and not one bushel came from the U.S.” — Robert Lee, soybean farmer in De Smet, South Dakota https://finance.yahoo.com/news/harvest-stress-soybean-farmers-await-195149595.html
“China has not bought a single export cargo of beans so far this year, which is not very typical.” — Scott Thomsen, farmer in Kennard, Nebraska https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/soybean-farmers-caught-in-looming-crisis-as-us-trade-war-with-china-cripples-sales/ar-AA1NtS81
Kentucky soybean farmer: The soybean market is terrible. It’s all tariffs. Tariffs has a lot to do with it. pic.twitter.com/is3IWhKC06
— FactPost (@factpostnews) October 2, 2025