As trade war batters Chinese demand for soybeans, US farmers turn back to grains

Since the mid-2000s, North Dakota farmer Paul Thomas has planted more of his land with soybeans as China’s demand for the oilseed grew. The shift culminated this year when he planted 1,600 of his 5,000 acres with soybeans, the most ever. But Thomas and many farmers like him plan to return to the old US farm belt staples in 2019: corn and wheat. The change will reverse a trend that saw US farmers plant more acreage this year with soybeans than corn for the first time in 35 years. The expected shift to other grains comes as farmers struggle to sell the soybean crop because of the United States’ trade war with China. The world’s most populous country typically buys 60 per cent of US soybean exports but has bought almost none for months due to the dispute, pushing prices to a decade low...MORE