North Carolina farmers are preparing to plant soybean crops in the coming weeks, but tariffs and global conflicts are making it harder for them to turn a profit.
Soybeans are the state’s largest crop per acreage, and the industry is in its third year of depressed commodity prices, according to Charles Hall, the executive director of the North Carolina Soybean Producers Association.
"It's a really stressful time,” Hall said. “(Farmers) have to make that decision of, what do I plant? How much nutrient do I put on it? How much crop protection product do I put on it? Can I afford to buy a new tractor this year?”
Hall said this is because of a cost-price squeeze — in which the cost of production increases, while the sell price stays the same.
He said some production costs have risen with military action in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is a major supplier of nitrate and phosphate fertilizer compounds, and disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are making fertilizer become more expensive.
“Farmers are just about to start planting crops, probably within the next two weeks,” Hall said. “And this is a really inopportune time for that particular input cost to spike.”
Additionally, Hall said tariffs play a role in financial strain. Tariffs from the Trump Administration disrupted trade relations with China, which used to be one of the largest buyers of soybeans from the U.S.
China now only buys about 50% of what they normally would have bought, according to Hall.
“So yeah, China has resumed buying soybeans,” he said. “And, no, China has not bought the volumes that have kept our industry afloat in the past.”
Hall said the additional costs from tariffs on production commodities, such as equipment and machinery, ultimately fall on the farmer.
“They are experiencing this tariffication that results basically in more than a hundred percent of tariffs landing on their shoulders,” he said.
Despite the pressures farmers are facing, Hall said consumers are unlikely to see major disruptions in the food supply. He said the average consumer can expect a secure and affordable food supply.
What's more likely to happen, Hall added, is an accelerated loss of farmers.
“The land will get farmed, the crops will get produced,” he said. “You just may see fewer farmers doing it as the ones that can't get a loan or can't be competitive, may have to drop out of farming.”
Hall said the NC Soybean Producers Association, along with the American Soybean Association, are actively in communication with federal policymakers to represent the needs of soybean farmers.
