Does the U.S. Midwest Have a Cost Advantage Over China in Producing Corn, Soybeans, and Hogs?
) (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI)) Abstract China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, a significant event for U.S. agricultural trade, has been viewed as benefitting U.S. farmers, especially midwestern farmers. This research compares the productivity and cost of production (COP) of China and the United States in producing corn, soybeans, and hogs. The results show that the U.S. Midwest (defined in this study as the Heartland region as classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service) has a substantial advantage in land and labor productivities in producing corn and soybeans, especially compared to China’s South and West producing regions. However, China’s Northeast region, a major corn- and soybean-producing area, has a very competitive COP over the U.S. Midwest. In hog production, the U.S. Midwest has a cost advantage over China in feed cost and labor productivity (there
