Minnesota soybean growers, normally dependent on exports for two-thirds of their crop, are facing mounting financial pressure as Chinese buyers remain absent from the U.S. market ahead of this year’s harvest. Farmers say strong yields are offering little comfort in what has become a season of “dire” export orders.
China, historically the largest buyer of U.S. soybeans, has shifted almost entirely to South American suppliers. By early September, Chinese importers had not booked a single shipment of the new U.S. crop, compared with 12 to 13 million tons on the books by this point last year, traders told Reuters.
For southern Minnesota farmer Gail Donkers, the situation is particularly painful. Standing in fields filled with waist-high plants bearing four-bean pods — a hallmark of a strong season — she said she has delayed sales to avoid taking a loss. Donkers, who chairs the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council, joined fellow growers in Washington this week to lobby lawmakers for federal aid.
“Brazil can fill almost all of China’s needs — that leaves all of us American producers sitting here holding the bag,” said Dennis Fultz, a farmer from Lyon County in southwestern Minnesota.
The trade shift underscores a dramatic decline in U.S. market share. In 2016, more than 40% of China’s soybean imports came from American farmers. By 2024, that number had fallen to about 20%, according to Chinese customs data.
Minnesota’s delegation has pledged to press the case in Congress. Earlier this week, House Agriculture Committee Chair Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) acknowledged the strain on growers, hinting at the possibility of targeted relief as lawmakers debate farm bill provisions.
