After the U.S. held on the rank of the number one soybean producing country in the world by only 55,000 tons last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)predicts that Brazil will become the top producer with its estimated harvest of 88.0 million tons – 3 million more tons than is expected from the U.S. Other analysts are predicting an even larger harvest. AgRural is forecasting a harvest of 89.1 million tons from Brazil. Higher soybean prices and a depreciation in value of the real over the last six months has encouraged Brazilian growers to increase soybean planting area by 4.3%. Although the currency shift will cause inputs to be more expensive, profits are expected to be even higher.
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