High-Oleic Soy Could Deliver Long-Term Demand For Farmers

Mar 18, 2013

By helping find long-term solutions to food-company challenges, high oleic soybeans might open doors for long-term U.S. soy oil demand and farmer profits. And these new varieties performed so well last year, farmers seem to be coming back for more in 2013.

U.S. food companies have shown preference for soy in the past, but turned away in recent years. Now high-oleic soy oil offers food companies even more reasons to return to this home-grown, reliable oil.

The soybean industry expects high-oleic could demand the oil from as many as 16 million acres of U.S. soybeans by 2020, depending on integration in soybean acres throughout the country.

“Soy stands out from other vegetable oils because of its reliable and cost competitive supply,” says Joe Cornelius, who recently retired from his position as quality trait lead with Monsanto. “But commodity soy oil lacks the stability needed by food and industrial end users and its saturated fat content could be improved.”

Although commodity soy oil is relatively low in saturated fats, the new high-oleic oils will be even better. Cornelius says high-oleic soy oil provides solutions to both the stability issue and the need to lower saturated fats.

“The combination of high-oleic and reduced saturated fat, makes it a better performing, more versatile oil,” adds Cornelius. “That versatility will make high oleic soy a very attractive option in food and industrial markets.”

Those efficiencies could mean big demand for U.S. soy oil. And the seed companies know that with high demand comes the need for high-yielding varieties.

“Pioneer has worked on high-oleic varieties for a long time, initially in the 1990s and again at the beginning of the 2000s,” says Steve Schnebley, senior research manager with DuPont Pioneer. “We continue to integrate the high-oleic trait with our best Pioneer germplasm and evaluate it on an ongoing basis.”

Pioneer currently partners with processors in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio to contract acres for high-oleic soybeans. Schnebly says the contracted farmers have responded positively to the performance of these varieties.

“Farmers have a whole different range of varieties they grow on their farm and the Plenish varieties are falling in line with those varieties and meeting their farm yield averages,” adds Schnebly. “Many of the farms that grew Plenish are coming back again. They are happy with the yield performance and signing on for more contracts.”

Schnebly added that disease packages available with their varieties take into consideration regional threats for soybeans.

Source: Unitedsoybean.org

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.