U.S. farmers sold freshly harvested soybeans directly off their combines for a profit as prices rose to a four-year high this autumn, a welcome change from the losses suffered during the U.S.-China trade war.
Strong exports to China, as the world’s top soybean importer emerged from lockdown, helped push the most-active soybean futures contract at the Chicago Board of Trade up about 12 percent between Aug. 1 and mid-September, when harvest kicked into gear across the U.S. Midwest.
