As production in South America continues to ramp up, grain producers and sellers in the United States are discussing possible shifts in markets for crops. Cody Forde, grain originator with River Valley Cooperative says that estimates show that South America will bring millions of acres into production in the next 10 to 15 years.
“Especially as they start to develop some infrastructure down there, which has been a slow process. By their estimations, they could add up to another 72 to 73 million acres of crop ground down there without having to cut down any rainforest. This would be pasture ground or ground that’s been sitting there as a prairie with just really nothing there besides grasses; so it’s pretty easy to switch over that crop ground,” says Forde. “Along with talking about China’s upcoming population issue, which we shouldn’t see for the next 20 years or so, but they’re bearing the fact of their one-child policy.”
Other factors impacting China’s population include lower marriage rates in the younger population and people choosing to not have kids.
