Season Greetings and Best Wishes for a Successful New Year-2010

Since it is the end of the year and a start of a new decade, this newsletter will concentrate on the changes that have occurred in the soybean industry during the past decade. We have seen some major changes in the soybean industry since January of 2000. Some of those changes are listed below:

• World soybean and soybean meal production have increased. The most rapid increase in soybean production has occurred in South American Countries.

• Soybean production in the United States has increased over the past ten years primarily due to increases in soybean yields. Acreages of the major crops have not widely varied, and growers are increasing yields by using higher yielding varieties, better control of weeds, pests and diseases, and improving overall crop management.

• The demand for soybean meal has increased domestically and worldwide. The charts show the increasing trend for domestic meal use.

• Greater use of by-product feed ingredients in feeds has occurred. The increased use of ethanol byproducts (Distillers Dried Grains and Distillers Dried Grain with solubles) has resulted due to the reduced supplies and increased cost of corn for livestock feeding.

• The market price for soybean meal has increased over the past ten years due to world supply and demand for feed protein.

• The composition of soybeans has not changed significantly over the past decade. The protein and amino acid content of soybeans allow the soybean processor to offer a soybean meal that is uniform and can be used with confidence in meeting the feed nutrient requirement specifications.

• The domestic use of soybean meals has been stable over the past ten years. Poultry and swine consumed about three-quarter of the soybean meal, with beef cattle and dairy consuming about 20%, and about 5% for pets and aquaculture.

• Researchers have greatly increased research studies designed to demonstrate the value of soybean meal in replacing fish meals in formulated feeds for fish and shrimp. The high prices for fish meal and increasing demand for a high quality protein source for aquaculture has resulted in greater interest in diets containing soybean meal.