Weekly newsletter: January 14, 2026

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The outlook for U.S. soy growers

Tyler Stafslien holds a picture of his farm. His family has grown crops on the land in North Dakota since 1912, starting with his great grandfather. Stafslien hopes to pass down the farm to one of his kids, Ryder. Credit: Gabrielle Nelson/Buffalo's Fire

Hi ,

It's Irina Zhorov, the Desk's assistant director. Some of us here have soybeans on our minds. At least two Desk reporters have told me they've had dreams about soybeans. I've started craving piles of edamame, immature soybeans, at every meal. And when I told my toddler that soybeans are our largest agricultural export, his eyes got big and he said, "Even larger than corn?" Yes, buddy, even larger than corn. 

For weeks, we've been reporting on the soybean market in the U.S. and Latin America, and now, we finally get to share those stories. 

The first story explains why we grow so much soy in this country and what happens when our largest buyer, China, stops buying them. 

Desk reporter Cassandra Stephenson of the Tennessee Lookout explains:

I'm sure my friends and family are now (1) much more informed about soybeans and (2) ready for me to move on to something else.

I was surprised to learn that soybeans caught on as a row crop in the United States only after years of extensive marketing efforts. Soybean adoption was spurred by boll weevil attacks on cotton, agricultural policy, world wars, international politics, and religious groups.

It wasn't until fairly recently — since around 1999 — that China became the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans. China now dwarfs the next top five purchasers combined.

In this story, my colleagues and I painted the current experiences of soybean farmers throughout the Mississippi River Basin against the backdrop of the crop's complicated history.

We hope it brings you food for thought and some interesting soybean facts to share around the dinner table."

Read the full piece here:

Soybeans have been a top U.S. ag export for decades. What happens when the top buyer stops buying?

By Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout; Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest and Gabrielle Nelson, Buffalo's Fire

Irina here again. Our second story goes beyond U.S. borders and farm fields.  

For years, China has been investing billions of dollars in infrastructure, like ports, in Latin America. One big reason is to improve shipping capacity for agricultural products grown on the continent. Products like soybeans. 

As trade wars strain trade between the U.S. and China, soy exports from Brazil continue to expand. 

What happens in Latin America greatly affects farmers thousands of miles away, here in the Mississippi River Basin, the main soybean-growing region in the U.S. 

This piece was reported by Mónica Cordero, our Iowa-based reporter at Investigate Midwest. She has expertise on Midwestern farming and can speak Spanish, allowing her to interview sources in Latin America with ease and deliver this thorough piece. 

Don't miss the cool interactive graphic – we call it "scrollytelling" – built by the Desk's data journalist, Jared Whalen.

China is investing billions in Latin America, potentially sidelining US farmers for decades to come 

By Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest

Support stories like this!

We're almost to the end of our year-end fundraising campaign here at the Ag & Water Desk. In-depth reporting on agriculture is out of reach for many outlets, but the Desk helps to support sophisticated storytelling and share it with rural communities most impacted by these global machinations.

We're nearing our goal, but we're not there yet. Will you help support our mission? Through the end of the year, donations will be doubled by our partners at NewsMatch, but time is running out. 

Before we go, we've got an exciting announcement to share: We've hired our new editorial director, Chas Sisk, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee. With more than a decade's experience in print and radio, he's covered everything from Wall Street mergers to New England town halls, and his passion is local journalism. He was part of the Pulitzer Prize-finalist team that covered the 2010 Nashville flood, has edited several national award winners, and led two multimedia collaboratives prior to joining the Ag & Water Desk. We are delighted to have him join the team! More from him in the coming weeks as he gets settled. In the meantime, read the full announcement here.

Thanks for reading. More next week from across the Mississippi River Basin.

The Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk is an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation. Click here for a map of the basin and our partner newsrooms.

Reach us at info@agwaterdesk.org or by replying to this email.