Subsidies and Imports
Soybean farmers suffer, but farmers who grow wheat
and com are "lucky."Toencourage farmers' enthusiasm
toward wheat and com, the government offerssubsidies
every year. For example, in 2005,the Henan provincial
government gave $1.23for every mu of wheat grown,
resulting in $3.627million of total subsidies to wheat
farmers in the province. In 2006,the 'Beijingmunicipality
government adjusted its subsidies for com growers
upward to $1.88per mu. One county in the Chongqing
municipality announced that it would subsidize $0.64
per mu to wheat growers in 2007.At the national level,
the central government uses strategic storage of wheat
and com to ensure that the sales prices farmers command
are not lower than minimum prices. In contrast,
subsidies for soybeans are negligible.
Falling soybean prices and the rise of imports also
affect downstream soybean oil processing firms. No.