High-Quality Soybean Meal Equals High-Quality Results for Soybean Farmers

Why are high-quality soybeans so important?

Soybean meal is an efficient protein source for animal feed, particularly for poultry and swine, but U.S. soybean farmers need to continually improve the quality of their meal to compete with other ingredients and meet the needs of livestock and poultry producers.

Animal ag consumes nearly 98 percent of U.S. soybean meal consumed at home and abroad. In the U.S., animals consume 29.7 million tons of U.S. soy meal per year. That’s the meal from 1.2 billion bushels of U.S. soy. Additionally, animal ag boosts the national economy to the tune of $333 billion because it sparks economic activity, creates jobs and generates income and property tax revenue.

U.S. soy has lost some animal-feed market share to alternative feed sources, such as canola meal, synthetic amino acids and dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). If soybean farmers do not continuously improve soybean quality, U.S. soy meal will continue to lose its animal-feed market share to alternative feed sources.

What can you do?

Simple: Ask your seed rep which seed varieties will provide you with a higher-quality soybean that produces both a solid yield and high-protein meal. These better beans will protect your current profits and preserve your place in markets for years to come.