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Supporting, improving and using soy meal and oil

Soy checkoff activities support strategic objectives to increase the value of both components of U.S. soybeans

The United Soybean Board (USB) wants U.S. farmers to look at U.S. soybeans a little differently today than their parents and grandparents did when they first started planting soybeans. In an effort to improve the U.S. soy industry’s focus on customers of U.S. soy, the 69 farmer-directors of USB have taken action to see the soybean like buyers see it – as two distinct parts: meal and oil.

USB’s Long-Range Strategic Plan adopted last summer steered the soy checkoff in this direction with two of its strategic objectives. One objective is to “increase the value of U.S. soy meal to the entire value chain.” The board plans to measure this in increased demand for U.S. soy meal. Another objective is to “increase the value of U.S. soy oil to the entire value chain.” An increase in demand for U.S. soy oil will help USB to gauge progress in this area.

To meet these objectives, USB farmer-leaders want to ensure that all checkoff-funded research and promotion support the new plan with emphasis on increasing the value of both U.S. soy meal and soy oil.

Informing Farmers of the Importance of Soy Meal and Oil

To get U.S. soybean farmers thinking about who actually uses their soybeans, USB, along with several Qualified State Soybean Boards, encourages U.S. farmers to think “Beyond the Elevator.” The effort has included print, radio and Internet-based messages that inform farmers and lead them to a website (www.beyondtheelevator.com) where they can learn more about soy usage by the animal agriculture sector.

“Surveys have shown that many U.S. soybean farmers do not understand the importance of animal ag to their soybeans,” says Jimmy Sneed, soybean farmer from Hernando, Miss., and USB Communications Chair. “The Beyond the Elevator campaign is one of the first steps in helping farmers to understand who their customers are and how important it is for our checkoff to be customer-focused.”

The USB Communications program recently conducted market research testing the Beyond the Elevator message using TV, outdoor billboards and even the U.S. mail to see if these methods, or a combination of them, convinced more U.S. soybean farmers that their real customers exist beyond the local elevator or processor. Results show more than 40 percent of U.S. soybean farmers now know poultry, livestock and fish use most U.S. soy here in the United States and abroad.

In the soy oil market, biodiesel production has rebounded. Supported by a federal tax incentive at the time along with the federal requirement for renewable fuels, biodiesel production reached a record high of 1.1 billion gallons in 2011. USB continues to encourage farmers to “ask for it and use it,” along with funding most of the biodiesel research and promotion conducted by the National Biodiesel Board.

Supporting Soy Meal in the United States

Through soy meal research, the checkoff continues to make sure that U.S. soybean farmers can provide a high-quality product for their top customers. Not only does USB help develop new varieties that could be more ideal for feeding animals, but it also conducts feeding trials with these new varieties to validate the added value.

“Currently USB is supporting swine feeding trials to evaluate the benefits of a new variety of soybeans that potentially could  be  higher in energy value relative to regular soybeans,” explains Ken Bryant of Provimi North America, Inc., a global animal nutrition company.

As a member of the checkoff-supported Animal Nutrition Working Group, Bryant reviews feeding trial protocols before they begin for design and relevance to the animal industry. He adds that animals today require a high amount of protein and energy in their diets to efficiently product meat, milk and eggs and it’s important for key ingredients like soy to provide high levels of amino acids and energy.

“If this new soy variety provides higher available energy to the animal, it will bring a higher value to the swine producer and should bring a higher premium in the market,” says Bryant.

USB also partners with the U.S. Meat Export Federation to build markets abroad for U.S. meat exports. This partnership has led to programs in Japan and Korea that promote U.S. pork through promotions such as cooking demonstrations.

Promoting U.S. Soy Meal and Oil Abroad

Increasing personal incomes in many countries around the world have grown demand for protein and vegetable oils, adding to the need for more soy meal and soy oil. An increase in global meat consumption has resulted in the growth of the global animal agriculture sector, making it imperative for U.S. soy meal to be the preferred feed ingredient. When meeting with customers abroad, the soy checkoff highlights amino acid content and metabolizable energy as advantages of using soybean meal in animal feeds.

“With the animal agriculture sector continuing to grow, there is a real opportunity for us to grow the global market share that U.S. soy meal has,” says Bob Metz, USB director and soybean farmer from West Brown Valley, S.D., who serves on USB’s International Marketing and Global Opportunities committees. “Our work in aquaculture is just one example of how we can show the benefits of using U.S. soybeans in feed rations in other countries.”

Aquaculture represents one area within animal agriculture with great potential for U.S. soy. The soy-checkoff-funded U.S. Soy Export Council (USSEC) plans to conduct soy-based feed demonstrations in China, Southeast Asia, India, Turkey, Egypt, Mediterranean Europe and Latin America.

To promote soy oil abroad, USSEC focuses on the advantages of soy oil over competing vegetable oils. USSEC continues to work to improve soy oil’s standing among consumers, retailers and the food industry in Latin America, where palm oil production has increased.

Finding New Uses for Soy Meal and Oil

As green and sustainable products continue to grow in popularity, soy has been able to maintain its stronghold as a viable component in helping products achieve these standards. Thanks in part to checkoff-funded research, soy has found its way into products such as paint, ink, carpet, cleaners and many others.

Most recently research has started on thermoplastic using soy meal and soy flour. This product could be composed of up to 80 percent biobased materials and would be used in masonry and wood coatings.

“One of the very important things that the new uses program does is build industry relations,” says Russ Carpenter, soybean farmer from Trumansburg, N.Y., and New Uses Chair. “We can help provide information and guidance to industries that are interested in using soy. Soybeans can be used for so many things, and the checkoff’s new uses program proves that.”

New uses for soy aren’t limited to products. Some include new processes. At the University of Akron, research has started on finding a process that can separate the protein and carbohydrates in soy meal. This process would benefit the development of aquaculture feeds, but, as more protein can be extruded, this could have uses in the high-value human-use market as well.

Improving Soy Meal and Oil

Soybeans contain approximately 40 percent protein and 20 percent oil, and according to researcher Eliot Herman, Ph.D., the soybean doesn’t like to stray from that too much. Herman’s checkoff-funded research focuses on trying to understand how the soybean decides how much protein and what type of protein it will make.

“Composition is a very important item since the vast majority of soy meal goes to animal feed,” Herman explains. “Animal agriculture is a huge market. It’s going to double between now and 2050. The opportunities are almost endless.”

Herman hopes that his research leads to a more efficient animal feed ingredient that would in turn mean a potentially higher-valued soybean.

Lilian Miranda, a researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, works to improve the quality and quantity of both oil and protein in soybeans. On the meal side, Miranda and her team utilize checkoff research investments to try to increase protein content and modify amino acid balance.

“Soybeans with higher oil content will mean higher profits for the oil industry and also improving fatty acid profiles will make soybean oil more stable,” says Miranda. “By improving the oil quality, we will help to regain market share for soy oil that has been lost to other oils.”

At Virginia Tech University, Saghai Maroof’s research centers on supporting that No. 1 customer of soybean farmers – animal ag – and keeping U.S. soy competitive. Through developing a soybean that provides meal with low phytate content, low indigestible sugars and higher levels of digestible sugar, like sucrose, Maroof hopes to improve metabolizable energy for animals.

“This research is important because it goes back to the No. 1 customer and we are competing with other soybean producing countries,” adds Maroof. “The better the quality of U.S. soy meal, the more benefits U.S. farmers are going to get from that.”

Value and Volume of U.S. Soybean Meal and Oil

USB hopes to measure the impact of these activities through changes in the value and volume of U.S. soy meal and oil. This year USB will set a baseline for these measurements.

Increased knowledge and awareness of end users and attention to their needs for the separate components of the soybean will benefit U.S. soybean farmers by being able to provide a better-quality and higher-valued product to the marketplace. This will not only assist USB and the U.S. soy industry in working toward the long-range strategic plan’s objectives in meal and oil, but will also help to reach other goals such as improving customer focus and supporting the animal agriculture sector.