The focus of the ag markets this time of year is South America and how their crop prospects look going into the new year. While talk lately has been centered on the Northern Brazilian drought, the story in Argentina is quite different.

In 2022-2023, Argentina experienced its worst drought in recent memory, and this led to the smallest soybean production volume in the last 10 years at 25 million metric tons. 

Production was down 43% year-over-year. This is often overshadowed by the fact that Brazil produced its largest crop ever, one that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues to increase, even as recently as the December estimates report. 

Total soybean production out of South America’s two largest producers equaled 185 million metric tons in the 2022-2023 season. (The record is 185.7 million in 2020-2021.) Combined exports for the year were seen at 99.69 million metric tons, also...