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U.S. 2018 Soybean Crop Statistics

December 2018

Crop year 2018 was a good year for U.S. soybean farmers.  Several all-time records and near-records were set for soybean production and for soybean meal usage.  The following table provides the most recent soybean supply and use information published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The 2018 soybean crop is still subject to some minor change based on the harvest.  Soybean production appears to be at all-time high resulting in more soybeans being available for crush and/or export.  Soybean yield is estimated at 52.1 bushels/acre which is an all-time record producing a record soybean production value of 4,600 million bushels.  The record domestic soybean crush of 2,080 million bushels provides ample volume of soybean meal for use by the domestic feed industry and for export sales.  Over 49 billion short tons of soybean meal will be available for the feed trade and export.

U.S. 2018 Soybean Crop Statistics

U.S. Soybean Supply
2013/14
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18*
2018/19**
Millions of Acres Harvested
76.1
76.3
83.3
82.7
89.5
88.3
Yield (bushels/acre)
41.9
40.0
44.0
52.0
49.3
52.1
(Millions of Bushels)
Total Production
3,042
3,358
3,927
3,926
4,411
4,600
Soybean Crush
1,689
1,734
1,873
1,901
2,055
2,080
Soybean Exports
1,317
1,638
1,842
2,166
2,129
1,900
U.S. Soybean Meal Use (Thousands of Short Tons)
Domestic Use
28,969
29,547
32,277
33,420
34,733
35,850
Meal Exports
11,176
11,546
13,108
11,580
14,826
13,750
Total Use
40,145
41,093
45,384
45,000
44,559
49,600
Average Price/ Short Ton
$468.11
$489.94
$368.49
$324.56
$316.88
$290-330
(*) Estimated; (**) Projected
Reference: USDA/WASDE-584, December 11, 2018