Argentina could see the largest expansion of soybean planting in more than a decade during the 2024-2025 planting season.
Farm Policy News says Brazil’s soybean plantings may be heading in the other direction thanks to the slowest growth pace in a decade during the same timeframe. Argentina’s farmers are likely to plant more soybeans in the current 2024-2025 season after last year’s corn was hurt by a devastating insect plague and future rain forecasts look more promising for soybeans.
Fears of another leafhopper plague like the one last year that could hit fields again are likely to knock an estimated 4.9 million acres off corn planting and into soybeans. This could potentially boost the world’s soybean supply even as prices are already subdued. Simultaneously, the price drop in soybeans looks less attractive to Brazilian producers than in previous seasons. Slower Brazilian soybean planting growth is unlikely to stop global stocks from swelling.