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Jan/Feb 2002: Farm Numbers Dwindling? They Don't Have To.
Nov/Dec 2001: The Farm Program. Yes or No? or Why?
Sep/Oct 2001: Nothing is Inevitable
Jul/Aug 2001: A Problem With Soybeans
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A Problem With Soybeans
Editorial from the July/August 2001 issue of Small Farm Today® magazine.
Lester Brown of WorldWatch Institute, in 2001 Vital Signs, notes that China, where the soybean originated, is now a major importer of soybeans, and accounts for less than 1/10th of the world’s production. Over 45% of the world’s soybean crop is produced in the U.S., and another quarter of the crop comes from Brazil, and Argentina, China, and other countries account for the remaining quarter.
Soybean world production has increased from 17 million tons in 1950 to 167 million tons in 2000. The U.S. is the leading soybean exporter, at 26 million tons, followed by Brazil at 11 million tons, Argentina at 5 million tons, and all other countries combined at 5 million tons.
This is why I agreed with Alan Guebert’s recent column in his Food & Farm File, reproduced with his kind permission. (See the magazine for this guest editorial.) I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, “As long as every farmer plants corn, wheat, and beans, nobody will make money planting corn, wheat, and beans.”
Happy and Profitable Farming,
Ron Macher
Publisher/Farmer