Quality of the 2010 Soybean Crop in the United States

The American Soybean Association and the US Soybean Export Council have supported a survey of the quality of the US soybean crop since 1986. These annual crop surveys document quality characteristics compared to previous soybean crops and provides information important to international customers to assist in their purchasing decisions for the upcoming year.

Sample kits were mailed to producers selected so that response distribution would closely match state soybean production. This year 1,850 samples were received. These were analyzed at the University of Minnesota for protein and oil concentration by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) using a Perten DA7200 diode array instrument (Huddinge, Sweden) equipped with calibration equations developed by Perten.

Regional and national average protein values were determined by computing weighted averages using state and regional soybean production values, so that average values better represent the crop as a whole. Results of the 2010 soybean quality study are presented in the following tables.

The results show that the average protein and oil concentrations for the 2010 US soybean crop differed only slightly from that of the 2009 US crop or from the long-term average values. Average US soybean protein concentration was 0.4% lower in 2010, at 34.9%, and average oil was virtually unchanged (0.1% higher at 18.7%), when compared with 2009 (Table 2). As is noted in most years, the Western Corn Belt states showed lower protein concentrations than the US crop as a whole. Midsouth states commonly have higher protein concentrations than other regions. In 2010, protein levels in this region were not significantly different than regions other than the Western Corn Belt. Southeastern states produced a soybean crop with higher oil concentration than other regions. The other regions did not differ from one another. The general conclusions developed from these data are that 2010 was a fairly "normal" year for soybean production in the U.S.












Seth. L. Naeve, James H. Orf, and Tracy O'Neill. 2010. Quality of the United States Soybean Crop. A report prepared for the American Soybean Association and the United States Soybean Export Council Food Soybean Quality Mission to Asia, 15-19 November, 2010 http://ussec.org/resources/2010_USSoybeanQualitySurvey.pdf