In the 2023 season, Brazil overtook the United States becoming the leader in corn exports, a title the country also took from the U.S. back in 2002. Local Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Grain Merchandiser Dan Bowman
“From an export standpoint, they have surpassed us in corn and beans this year,” said Bowman. “I think the biggest key down there going back to uncertainty is from a production standpoint, their weather is maybe a bit more volatile than ours is due to the vast area of production down there in Argentina and Brazil in particular.”
In the 2023 harvest year, USDA data shows that the US accounted for 23 percent of global corn exports whereas Brazil accounted for 32 percent.
However, Bowman adds that volatility in the weather in places such as Brazil can be offset by their multiple growing seasons. But even with more growing seasons to take advantage of, the United States still has the leg up when it comes to infrastructure.
“In my mind, the next step is infrastructure within. Like our country’s elevator system, that will maybe spread those commodities throughout the course of the calendar year to be more of an export threat to the US. That’s the one thing we have that they don’t have,” said Bowman. “But I think too as they are doing all of those things, I think the US is also progressing with more uses with our products too with sustainable aviation fuel on the corn side, green diesel. There is a lot of expansion right now in the bean processing industry right now.”
Infrastructure in the United States allows farmers to grow more specialized crops when compared to farmers in countries such as Brazil.
