Oklahoma Farmers Struggle With -$70-an-Acre Soy Losses as China Demand and Fuel Costs Crumble
Updated
Updated · Oklahoma Watch · May 11
Oklahoma Farmers Struggle With -$70-an-Acre Soy Losses as China Demand and Fuel Costs Crumble
3 articles · Updated · Oklahoma Watch · May 11
$12 billion in federal Farmer Bridge Assistance helped Oklahoma growers cover loans and operating costs, but many still faced thin margins, with some cutting supplies, selling land or weighing whether to keep farming.
Soybean economics have deteriorated for years: Prairie Gateway returns have stayed negative since 2022, hitting about -$70 per planted acre in 2024, while some farmers say soybeans still fetch only about $11 a bushel.
China's retreat from the U.S. market after Trump's 34% tariff on Chinese imports slashed soybean exports there to 218 million bushels in 2025 from 985 million in 2024, and a later purchase deal largely restored normal volumes rather than adding demand.
Input costs kept rising as 2021 duties on Moroccan and Russian phosphate fertilizers constrained supply and added an estimated $6.9 billion to U.S. producers' costs from 2021 through 2025.
The Strait of Hormuz disruption widened the squeeze by lifting fuel and nitrogen fertilizer prices—gasoline is up 52% since the Iran conflict began—while some Oklahoma farmers leaned more on livestock, and fertilizer duty reviews now run toward a spring 2027 decision.
Why does U.S. policy give farmers billions in aid while its own tariffs add billions to their costs?
With farmers losing money while food prices soar, who is truly profiting from the global food crisis?