Soy stockpiles in the U.S., where farmers harvested the third-largest crop ever just six months ago, according to Bloomberg News, are the lowest that they have been in at least five decades.
The grain department manager at the Ursa, Illinois-based terminal owner, Scott Meyer, said that “Our soybean supplies will be empty by the end of April.” According to Scott Meyer “Chinese demand for soybeans was a lot stronger than everyone expected this year.” Bloomberg Business week has reported that the U.S soybean supply is “near critically low.” The director of research for R.J. O’Brien & Associates in Chicago, Randy Mittelstaedt, said that “Chinese demand for U.S. beans was so strong, so early that it simply depleted supply.”
The soybean is native to East Asia, and is widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses. Soybeans produce significantly more protein per acre than most other uses of land. Raw soybeans, including the immature green form, are toxic to humans, swine, chickens, and in fact, all monogastric animals. The central government of China will scrap its cotton and soybean stockpiling programs in 2014 and try direct subsidies to farmers instead, according to The Brock Report. According to Rabobank International, U.S. farmers are preparing to sow a record crop in 2014. The main producers of soy are the United States (35%), Brazil (27%), Argentina (19%), China (6%) and India (4%).
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