Top importer China logged record Brazilian soy imports during the quarter.

Brazilian soy farmers have seen opportunity -and fortunes -in the pains of their American counterparts.

In June, Greenpeace denounced Europe's "addiction" to Brazilian soy used for pig and poultry farms.

Brazilian soy cultivation is expanding after record exports to China in the past year and China is investing in South American ports.

After record export volumes from South American facilities helped ADM deliver a stronger-than-expected second-quarter profit, Brazilian soy stocks are nearly depleted, Luciano said.

Farmers in Brazil's countryside are swapping crops like sugar cane for soy, hoping to cash in and put Brazilian soy on Chinese dinner tables.

Land conflicts have intensified in recent years and clashes occasionally break out between squatters and big landowners, including Brazilian soy farmers who live in Paraguay.

Already record high premiums for Brazilian soy over Chicago prices were driven up 37 percent in response, the biggest one-day increase since January 2017.