# Harvesting in a trade war - U.S. crops rot as storage costs soar

> US grain farmers are plowing under crops or leaving them piled on the ground rather than selling them, citing sharply reduced export demand from China amid the trade war. Storage costs have soared as storage capacity has been swamped.

- Date: 2018-11-21 · published 2018-11-21T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: trade · region US · magnitude high
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/11727-harvesting-in-a-trade-war-u-s-crops-rot-as-storage-costs-soar
- Commodities: [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md), [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Sorghum](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SORGHUM.md)

## Why it matters

Lost Chinese export demand and forced storage build-up point to bearish pressure on US soybean and corn prices, while the reported crop destruction signals farmer reluctance to sell at current levels.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: bearish ▼
- CORN: bearish ▼
- SORGHUM: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SOY | 2021-11-01 | [Harvesting another trade war - R Street Institute](https://feedsoft.ai/events/44036-harvesting-another-trade-war-r-street-institute.md) | -3.5% | +0.5% |
| SOY | 2018-12-20 | [China Trade War Rattles Investors in New US Soy Processing Plants](https://feedsoft.ai/events/61650-china-trade-war-rattles-investors-in-new-us-soy-processing-plants.md) | -3.4% | +1.9% |
| SOY | 2018-12-27 | [As trade war crushes China's soybean mills, U.S. rivals make hay](https://feedsoft.ai/events/61545-as-trade-war-crushes-china-s-soybean-mills-u-s-rivals-make-hay.md) | +3.5% | +6.4% |
| SOY | 2018-10-22 | [Damaged soybean crop hits farmers reeling from U.S.-China trade war \| Farmtario](https://feedsoft.ai/events/62590-damaged-soybean-crop-hits-farmers-reeling-from-u-s-china-trade-war-farmtario.md) | -1.4% | +4.1% |
| SOY | 2019-12-03 | [Ocean shipping in crossfire again as trade war reignites - FreightWaves](https://feedsoft.ai/events/55762-ocean-shipping-in-crossfire-again-as-trade-war-reignites-freightwaves.md) | +3.1% | +8.3% |
| CORN | 2025-08-07 | [Record crop meets trade woes in fall storage crunch \| Feed & Grain](https://feedsoft.ai/events/23389-record-crop-meets-trade-woes-in-fall-storage-crunch-feed-and-grain.md) | -1.1% | +3.9% |
| CORN | 2025-03-04 | [Dollar Slides as Trade-War Risk Drives Investors to Other Havens](https://feedsoft.ai/events/9709-dollar-slides-as-trade-war-risk-drives-investors-to-other-havens.md) | +3.2% | +4.7% |
| CORN | 2019-05-08 | [Trade war: US-China trade battle in charts](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10431-trade-war-us-china-trade-battle-in-charts.md) | +0.3% | +10.5% |

## Sources

- reuters.com: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-grains/harvesting-in-a-trade-war-us-crops-rot-as-storage-costs-soar-idUSKCN1NQ0GA/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.