"Prices have tanked while production increased. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has projected average cash soybean prices this year of $4.30 per bushel, well below the cost of production, Wisner said."
Des Moines Register | March 1, 2002 | By ANNE FITZGERALD, Des Moines Register Agribusiness Writer
Ames, Ia. - Brazil wants the United States to stop subsidizing soybean production.
A Brazilian agricultural official said in Ames on Thursday that his government was weighing whether to ask the World Trade Organization to force the U.S. to stop subsidizing soybean production.
"We have some lawyers taking a look at the (trade) agreements to see if there is any room for Brazil to complain," said Carlos Nayro Coelho, an economist in Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture.
Brazilians believe the subsidies give U.S. farmers an unfair competitive advantage over farmers in his country, said Nayro Coelho after speaking at an Iowa State University conference about world grain and meat demand.
"How can we compete with people who get more than half of their income from their government?" he asked, alluding to U.S. farmers who in recent years have come to depend heavily on federal subsidies.
Industry experts said Brazil would have a strong case.
"If I were Brazil, I would demonstrate that the U.S. has been selling soybeans far below the cost of production only because of subsidies," said Robert Wisner, an ISU Extension economist.
"I think that is where we might be vulnerable, and it would be hard to argue against that," Wisner said.
There has been talk before that Brazil might lodge a complaint with the WTO, said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities Inc. in West Des Moines.
U.S. soybean subsidies "have been a sore subject" since they were implemented several years ago, he said.
"Competition is fierce in the world grain trade, and everybody is trying to defend their own turf," he said. "The complaint is that we're not playing on a level playing field."
In recent years, U.S. farmers have increased soybean acreage, in many cases because of higher government subsidies for that crop. As a result, land better suited to crops such as wheat has been shifted to soybean production, especially in states like Kansas and the Dakotas.
This year, U.S. farmers are expected to produce nearly 3 billion bushels of soybeans, which would be a record.
Prices have tanked while production increased. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has projected average cash soybean prices this year of $4.30 per bushel, well below the cost of production, Wisner said."Prices have tanked while production increased. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has projected average cash soybean prices this year of $4.30 per bushel, well below the cost of production, Wisner said."Des Moines Register:
