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SE SD | I thought SAF was going to be a big deal for domestic soy, but big oil has a stronger lobby. Same goes with ethanol especially in a time of high energy prices. To me, if we're gonna have longevity in the ag industry moving forward, a serious discussion needs to be had about consolidation and how having only a few major corporations cornering the market is bad for rural America.
To your question about how we don't seek out other countries to sell ag products to: Other reasons are supply and demand in other countries. You're not going to sell a lot of Arkansas rice to Vietnam for example. Other countries like Saudi Arabia or any country for that matter have different diets. Spain, Greece, Portugal, UK, eat a lot more veggies, fruits, and nuts (Mediterranean Diet). Middle East eats more goats and chickens. Their populations are a lot less, and needs can be easily met domestically or trading to countries closer to them. Geography & climate is another reason. China is a lot of rough terrain. Not as suitable for a lot of domestic production. So they need to import a lot of it. France, Germany, Ukraine, Russia compete against us because they do have good land like we do for production. That's why China is such a target for many countries on trade. It's a big market that needs the food and needs the energy! But they have a lot of people that can work for next to nothing and make cheap crap to sell to everyone else. They also have a lot of rare earth minerals and deposits to sell to the world. | |
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China and Beans
