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| Ok, go ahead and do that exercise with how many 48” flat screen TV’s you could buy with that same acre of soybeans 30 years ago vs. today. Feel better now?
Comparison of dissimilar items from 30 years ago is stupid. No doubt the $ has lost purchasing power as a function of inflation. It’s what the government does.
The simple truth is that for my entire lifetime all of the experts have overestimated how fast and high the world population will grow, how much food will be needed and underestimated the ability of the world’s farmers to meet that demand. That’s reality, we’ve easily outpaced world consumption increases to this point.
So if the goal is to continue farming then you better figure out how to survive today’s reality not some dreamt up comparison.
For reference the marketing year average in 1996 was $7.35 and inflation since then is approximately 108%. So in 2026 $ that would be $15.31. Soybean yield in 1996 was 37.5 bpa x $15.31 = $574.25 gross and 2025 yield at 53 bpa x $11 = $583 gross. So the gross income from an acre of soybeans has been stagnant.
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For everyone who rejoices over $11 beans and whatnot
