Follow the Bean at Soy Connext: U.S. Soybeans Show Less Damage Than Brazilian Beans, Quality Data Reveals
Five years of comprehensive quality tracking presented at the 2025 Soy Connext event in Washington D.C. today reveals a stark reality: Brazilian soybeans show more total damage than U.S. beans and are sent to their destination with consistently higher moisture content[1].
Germán Bosch, founder of AgCom, and Johny Boerjan, Vice President, Technical Governance at SGS, shared data from major soybean origins on how climate, technology infrastructure, and logistics affect soybeans’ quality
“If you follow the bean from its origin, whether in the U.S., Brazil, or Argentina, Uruguay, you will find that the way it is harvested, dried, transported, and stored impacts consistency and quality for end-users,” Bosch explained to global attendees in the session.
USSEC Global Quality Dashboard: Measuring What Matters
Since 2020, Bosch’s company, AgCom, has been issuing weekly reports for USSEC’s interactive dashboard[2] that tracks seven key quality parameters: moisture, protein, oil, foreign material, heat damage, total damage, and splits.
Bosch’s company gets the quality information of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina from First Class Surveyors, from analysis taken at loading ports, and relies on data from samples collected by the U.S. Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS). The interactive data represents significant volumes, including 40 million tons annually for the U.S., 21 million tons for Brazil, and 1 million tons for Argentina/Uruguay, according to the USSEC dashboard[3].
For buyers making purchasing decisions worth millions of dollars, the dashboard allows real-time comparison of quality metrics by country, loading port, and shipment type.
Comparing Two Origins
The U.S. operates with a mature, stable infrastructure that delivers consistent quality metrics across all parameters. Meanwhile, Brazil’s rapidly expanding production (growing 76%[4] over the past decade) relies on continuously changing infrastructure that generates higher variability in moisture, protein, oil, total damage, and heat damage.
Geography compounds these differences. Brazilian weather patterns, with higher precipitation, temperature, and humidity, naturally produce higher moisture, heat damage, and total damage content in exported beans. On the other side, Brazilian soybeans produced in regions with lower latitudes show higher oil and protein content.
The most striking quality differences stem from harvest conditions. In Brazil’s northern regions, like Mato Grosso, soybeans are harvested during January and February, the peak of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Temperatures reach 35-40°C (95-104°F) with frequent rainfall, forcing farmers to harvest beans at 20-25% moisture content compared to the 13-15% moisture which is typical in U.S. conditions[5].
“In Mato Grosso and northern Brazil in the summertime, you have 35-40°C temperatures and probably rain every other day,” Bosch explained. “Whenever the sun comes out, you need to harvest soybeans because if not, the crop can deteriorate even more before being collected, increasing the content of damaged grains.”
Bosch contrasts this with U.S. harvest conditions where harvest occurs in cooler, drier weather. “After harvest, they are just put in the silos, which is like putting them into the freezer,” Bosch explained. “That preserves the quality of the beans.”
Moisture: The 1% Value Difference
These climate differences translate directly into measurable quality gaps. U.S. soybeans consistently maintain 1.03% lower moisture content than Brazilian beans (11.38% vs 12.41%[6] on average). This difference represents more than water content—it reflects value, as buyers purchase less water and more dry matter with U.S. soybeans.
The moisture difference stems from both climate and drying processes. While U.S. farmers often rely on natural field drying, Brazilian producers, even when building new drying facilities, still need to cope with artificial drying systems. Some Brazilian facilities still use wood-fired dryers rather than gas systems, making temperature control more difficult and contributing to quality variability.
Perhaps most significant for end users is the total damage comparison. Brazilian soybeans average 6.91% total damage compared to just 1.08% for U.S. beans—a 5.83 percentage point difference[7]. This disparity affects not just immediate processing but storage stability.
“The quality differences have real market consequences. Some major buyers, particularly those requiring long-term storage capabilities, have implemented sourcing restrictions on certain Brazilian origins due to storage stability concerns,” Bosch explained. “When beans need to be stored for extended periods, the higher damage content becomes a relevant factor in purchasing decisions.”
Market Reality: Quality Undervalued
The panelists noted that today, U.S. soybeans are priced below Brazilian soybeans for different reasons. This pricing disparity creates significant opportunities for international buyers to improve both their bottom line and product consistency.
“For example, Thailand has been buying mainly Brazilian soybeans for the past decade, but nowadays U.S. beans tend to be very cheap compared to Brazilian beans,” Bosch explained.
Follow the Bean: From Field to Final Destination
Every soybean’s journey from harvest through transport to an international end-user, tells a quality story. USSEC’s interactive dashboard reveals how climate, infrastructure, and logistics shape that story across seven critical parameters: moisture, protein, oil, foreign material, heat damage, total damage, and splits. With five years of comprehensive data representing 40+ million tons annually, the dashboard transforms each bean’s journey into actionable purchasing intelligence.
Learn more about the advantages of U.S. Soy.
This article is funded in part by the soy checkoff.
[1] USA & Brazil Soybean Quality Dashboard, Last Updated Aug. 7, 2025 https://trapast.shinyapps.io/13_soybean_quality/
[2] USA & Brazil Soybean Quality Dashboard, Last Updated Aug. 7, 2025 https://trapast.shinyapps.io/13_soybean_quality/
[3] USA & Brazil Soybean Quality Dashboard, Last Updated Aug. 7, 2025 https://trapast.shinyapps.io/13_soybean_quality/
[4] IBGE – Produção Agrícola Municipal. Presented by German Bosch, AgCom, SoyConnext, August 21, 2025.
[5] USA & Brazil Soybean Quality Dashboard, Last Updated Aug. 7, 2025 https://trapast.shinyapps.io/13_soybean_quality/
[6] USA & Brazil Soybean Quality Dashboard, Last Updated Aug. 7, 2025 https://trapast.shinyapps.io/13_soybean_quality/
[7] USA & Brazil Soybean Quality Dashboard, Last Updated Aug. 7, 2025 https://trapast.shinyapps.io/13_soybean_quality/