Don’t Take Our Word for It – Hear It Straight from the People Buying Your Soybeans
Your customers buy soybeans for what’s inside – protein and oil. The more of those quality components you can pack into your soybeans, the greater the demand for them will be. And higher demand often leads to a better price through your basis.
Iowa farmer Laura Foell recently heard about the importance of protein and oil content from a group of soybean processors from Taiwan.
“We have to select for more than yield to be competitive in the global marketplace,” says Foell, who serves as United Soybean Board Meal Action Team chair. “The Taiwan crushers I met were pleased with the higher protein content of U.S. soybeans this year. Better composition means better feed for their animals, and that has an impact on our soybean prices and profitability, whether we recognize it or not.”
If you’re still not sure that growing soybeans with higher levels of protein and oil can improve demand and increase the price you receive, take it from a couple representatives of the soy-processing industry.
- Sam Huenefeldt, marketing manager at ADM’s plant in Quincy, Illinois.“If we can provide the highest-quality soybean meal in the world, we can command a higher value for our meal. This will translate to higher demand for soybeans here at our plant and therefore higher values for the farmers that produce soybeans in this area.”
- Tom Kersting, CEO of South Dakota Soybean Processors in Volga, South Dakota.“Whether farmers realize it or not, quality impacts basis. While never completely spelled out for soybean farmers, processors and feed companies buy soybeans based on their anticipated crush value. Processors target areas with better quality soybeans and will pay more for those soybeans. That affects bottom lines throughout the country.”
- John Wright, vice president of strategic planning and development at Owensboro Grain in Kentucky. “High protein and oil levels keep demand for soybeans strong because that’s what my customers want. If processors can’t sell their product, they discount it. If the soybean meal falls below the quality standards customers are looking for, the market discounts the lower-protein soybean meal. When they do that, they can’t offer farmers as much at the elevator.”
Farmers can put themselves in position to get more value from their soybeans by selecting high-quality seed. Use the soy checkoff’s Soybean Quality Toolbox to see test plot data in your area showing which varieties producer greater protein and oil content without sacrificing yield.
Source : unitedsoybean.org