Rising soybean planting costs lead to declining profits

"This year the soybeans were damaged by disasters and the quality is poor. The yield per mu is less than 200 jin, and the purchase price is 2 yuan/jin, so the income per mu is less than 400 yuan. But each mu requires 13 jin of seed, priced at more than 3 yuan per jin. After spreading herbicide once, applying foliar fertilizer twice, plus pesticides and field management, the input cost exceeds 400 yuan." Hu Minglong, a soybean grower in Daxin Town, Wuhe County, told reporters that continuous rain during the soybean seedling stage caused severe waterlogging damage, and during the flowering and pod-filling stages the soybeans encountered about 40 days of high-temperature drought, causing flower buds to drop and seeds to shrivel.

Fortunately, the soybean straw was sold to livestock farmers at about 100 yuan/mu, which offset some of the losses.

According to recent fixed-point survey data from the Provincial Price Bureau on 90 soybean growers at survey points in 10 counties (districts) across the province, in 2016 soybean yields per unit area in our province declined, total costs increased, purchase prices fell, and growers' profits declined. It is understood that this year the soybean yield per mu in our province was 126.78 kg, down 24.75 kg from 151.53 kg last year. The main reason was "flooding early and drought late" during the soybean growing period, especially more than 40 consecutive days of high-temperature drought in the later period, which affected both soybean yield and quality to a certain degree.

This year the soybean selling price in our province was 186.64 yuan/50 kg, down 17.95 yuan/50 kg from 204.59 yuan/50 kg last year. This price also set a new low for selling prices during the soybean survey period since 2010. Analysis suggests the main reasons are, first, domestic soybean prices are higher than import prices. In October, the port distribution price of imported soybeans in China was about 3.50 yuan/kg, while new-season soybeans sold by traders in northern Anhui were about 4.00 yuan/kg. Second, this year our province's soybeans were affected by disastrous weather, with smaller beans, shriveled and not plump, and lower oil extraction rates, which affected market selling prices. It is expected that later soybean selling prices will not rise significantly.

"In previous years, newly marketed beans generally sold at relatively low prices and rose slightly later, but judging from the quality and appearance of our province's soybeans this year, the price increase will be limited." An official from the Price Cost Investigation and Supervision Bureau of the Provincial Price Bureau analyzed that among the province's major grain and oil crops, soybean planting has the lowest output value "output," and its comparative benefit is significantly lower than other crops. "Because soybean production was affected by extreme climate during the seedling, flowering and pod-setting stages, and market soybean prices are sluggish, it is difficult to improve profits, causing some growers to neglect field management later, reduce input of production materials, and leave soybean production to the mercy of the weather."

In 2016, the total cost per mu of soybeans in our province was 630.03 yuan, an increase of 57.40 yuan, or 10.02%, from 572.63 yuan last year. Survey data show that major cost items such as seed, chemical fertilizer, pesticides and machinery operation fees changed little, while labor costs and land costs both increased to varying degrees, which were the main reasons affecting the increase in total costs this year. Among them, in 2016 labor cost was 228.34 yuan, an increase of 47.45 yuan, or 26.23%, from 180.83 yuan last year; land cost was 223.17 yuan per mu, an increase of 14.81 yuan, or 7.11%, from 208.36 yuan last year.

Affected by the double decline in yield per unit area and prices and by rising costs, in 2016 the output value per mu of soybeans in our province was 490.45 yuan, a decrease of 143.35 yuan, or 22.62%, from 633.80 yuan last year. After deducting total costs, net profit per mu showed a loss. In this regard, a relevant person from the Provincial Price Bureau suggested that in order to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of soybean farmers in our province, the soybean target price subsidy policy should be promoted in our province as soon as possible. "At present, it is necessary to further improve the agricultural benefit subsidy policy and accelerate the work of confirming rural land rights, and create relevant conditions for increasing farmers' income and enhancing the value of agricultural land; accelerate the cultivation and establishment of rural professional cooperatives, strengthen the construction of farmland water conservancy infrastructure, accelerate the pace of agricultural modernization, and improve soybean production efficiency and comprehensive competitiveness."