In not too great news for those of us who love anything from a cheeky soy flat white to popping edamame beans at the local sushi train, or even just like putting soy sauce on anything – it’s looking like the price of soybeans will spike due to the devastating drought seriously taking a toll on crops this year.
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Though it was reported back in August by the ABC that the drought was taking a huge toll on the soybean industry in Northern NSW, a recent report from The Daily Telegraph has brought the reality to a head again (while resting on its laurels of ‘soy latte sipping millennials’) by speaking about the future of the bean with farmers.
As per IndexMundi, soybean crops are currently going for around $537 per metric tonne – the highest it’s been since it hit $618/tonne in 2016 – and it’s predicted that could blow out to over $1000/tonne if the drought keeps up through into 2020.
Where farmers were used to harvesting over 25-thousand hectares of soybean per season, they’ve only managed to scrape in around 5-thousand hectares during this year’s harvest, and the Daily Tele reports that farmers are cautious of the drought’s conditions, and are tempted to not plough and re-sow the crop again until the drought breaks.
The lack of crops coming out of Aussie farms means that soy-based products will have to rely on importing product from overseas – a tactic that is costly and in turn will likely hike up the prices of the local tofu, soy milk, and other products that have soybean by-products in it.
Though it may hopefully bring the conversation of the drought and its devastating effects to the coastline cities and metropolitan Aussies, it’ll be interesting to see if there’s a noted shift of coffee drinkers opting for oat and almond milk while continuing the conversation around how to help drought-stricken farmers.
