The U.S. Department of Agriculture in September predicting a record soybean crop; however, the actual values are still to be determined. There is still a lot of concern about the final size of the crop. The weather delays in planting the crop, the relatively cold summer, increasing disease threats and the continued possibility of an early frost will reduce the value of early soybean yield estimates. There are just too many variables still pending to provide accurate estimates of the 2009 soybean crop. In the December Soybean Meal INFOsource newsletter we will provide a detailed review of the soybean and soybean meal supply and demand situation.

To provide some perspective on the soybean and soybean meal use, we developed the following charts which show usage trends since 1980. The two charts show that soybean and soybean meal production has grown steadily over the past twenty-eight years. Both soybean and soybean meal use have doubled since the early 1980s. Smaller increases have been seen in the exports of soybean meal and the growth of the domestic crushing industry. These charts reflect the growth of the livestock and poultry markets in the U.S. and world demand of soybeans. The world need for soy protein is evident and demonstrated in these charts showing the growth of the soybean crop.