Reuters reports China imported no U.S. soybeans in September. It's the first time since November 2018 that shipments fell to zero.
China then looked to Brazil for its "beans" as many farmers call them.
In the past, China has bought about half of the U.S. exported beans, according to IPM News.
Soybeans are good source of protein and are used in foods and feed for animals, and other items like biodiesel, plastics, and mattresses.
There is also soy-based asphalt and soy-based fire extinguishers which are considered a safer alternative to regular foam devices used in firefighting.
Mississippi State Extension Agricultural Economist Steve Martin said prices are depressed due to large supplies domestically and globally.
"When the current administration started talking about tariffs, China's the big one in the news because they're the biggest buyer of ag commodities period.”
It's not only about soy beans.
“Of course they're also a big trading partner. We get a lot of consumer products from China, and so, when we put tariffs on them, they're retaliatory in that if you're going to do this, we are going to do that. The beans that China is taking out of Brazil and replacing our beans with, then those are beans that we can sell to some other country."
Rob Baker is a farmer in the Mississippi Delta and is the Mississippi director on the board of the American Soybean Association.
"Typically, in the Delta, all our beans go on a barge, and that barge goes down to the Gulf and basically all of our soybeans go overseas. We do not ship many soybeans inland. So, when you take Chinese demand down to zero, that has been very, very detrimental to the price we're able to get as far as what we get for our soybeans."
He said the government shutdown has affected assistance to farmers and it will not get settled until the government opens, but that some Farm Service Agency staff are back in office and will start working on assistance to farmers.
