U.S. Soybean Crushings Rebound in December

 

The National Oilseed Processor Association (NOPA) issued December soybean crush and stocks data on Wednesday, January 15. According to the data, NOPA member soybean processing in the third month of the 2019/20 product (October-September) marketing year totaled 4.758 million tonnes. December crushings were up 0.27 million tonnes from November and were the largest crushing for the month and also came in at the second-largest monthly total. Cumulative crushings of 14.109 million tonnes are up slightly from 13.909 million the same period last year.

 

 

According to analysts’ expectations published by Reuters, the trade was looking for crush to come in near 4.671 million tonnes with the highest published guess coming in slightly below the actual crushings at 4.736 million tonnes. The solid rebound in processing came after November crushings fell short of the trade’s expectations, which was attributed to limited farmer selling. The rebound in December suggests that improving crush margins, along with greater movement of new-crop soybeans were likely features that pushed processing rates.

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.