Beginning in the late ‘40s, representatives of the ASA were regularly traveling to the far reaches of the globe in search of markets for US soybeans. In 1955, George Strayer wrote an editorial in Digest calling for more exports.

Prompted by increasing production, soybean farmers and processors developed a plan that led to the formation in 1956 of the Soybean Council of America to promote soybean products in forty countries. A short time later, Congress passed Public Law 480 which, along with contributions from processors, helped the Council set about the work of establishing international soybean offices. The Council signed its first global contract with the Foreign Agricultural Service of USDA in 1960.

The relationship between soybean growers and processors has evolved out of necessity. Leaders from the processing industry played major roles in establishing the soybean. It was May 21, 1930, when a group of these leaders gathered in Chicago, Illinois, and launched the National Soybean Processors Association to promote confidence and eliminate abuses within the industry.

Processors also led the way with technical innovations that have dramatically increased the utilization and value of the soybean. The first large-scale continuous solvent extraction plants in the United States were introduced from Germany in 1934. This process quickly replaced the continuous screw-press process which was the primary means of oil extraction prior to 1940. Since that time, processors have constantly searched for ways to improve and modify the extraction process to increase the efficiency of energy and solvent utilization for improved dependability, simplicity, safety and competitiveness of US oilseed products.

In 1994, soybean meal accounted for 62 percent of the world’s protein meal consumption, weighing in at 85 million metric tons with a market value of approximately $19 billion. And were it not for the discovery and elimination of heat-sensitive antinutritional factors in solvent-saturated soy flakes, soybean meal might yet be suited for little more than fertilizer. Chief among the new processing techniques was the development in the early 1950s of equipment that combined desolventizing and toasting in a single vessel. This type of process increased the nutritive value of the meal by eliminating the toxic anti-trypsin activity making the amino acids more readily available for digestion by livestock and poultry.

The voice of the soybean grower has been heard in Washington, D.C. since the beginning. ASA leaders worked for the benefit of growers and the industry on a variety of issues including the fight to color margarine, import taxes that protected domestic production from cheaper tropical oils, funding for market promotion programs and research, farm bill legislation, set-aside programs, and support for the national soybean checkoff.

Competition for markets also promoted the development of ever more efficient methods of growing, harvesting, handling and transporting US soybeans and soybean products. In the early days, soybean machinery was selected on the basis of whatever was on hand for other crops. Summer included days when workers and farmhands walked soybean fields chopping out weeds.

Advancements in soybean production methods can best be described as a never ending quest to develop better equipment capable of delivering higher quality and increased yields. Chemical products made it possible to grow soybeans without towering weeds peaking through the crop. Today’s chemicals offer a wide array of coverage options and are developed to address environmental concerns. Some new seed varieties have traits that include resistance to certain chemicals allowing producers more options and greater flexibility.

The width between rows has decreased and the machines to plant them offer improved seed placement. The advent of modern conservation practices brought reduced tillage and no-till options that permit th planting of crops on hillsides and in areas deemed inappropriate just a decade ago. Larger equipment, fewer trips across the field, and reduced labor input have all played a part in the continued success of the soybean. Although the first 100 bushels per acre soybean yield was recorded in 1968, the overall US average yield in 1994 was 41.9 bu/ac.

Elevators and processors installed modern equipment that could handle more volume more quickly and with greater quality control. Trucks and railroad cars increased their capacities and reduced transportation costs. Multi-million dollar investments created new port facilities and ever larger ocean going vessels to carry US soybeans to customers half a world away.

The Chicago Board of Trade established a soybeans futures market on October 5, 1936, and county elevators and grain merchandisers have competed aggressively for the soybean crop ever since. Soybean oil was traded on the Memphis Cotton Exchange, and on July 17, 1950, CBOT added a soy oil futures market. CBOT futures trading provided a much needed market stabilizing effect that benefits both farmers and processors alike.

By the time the pages of the second issue of the Soybean Blue Book where being printed, an important transition was taking place in this country; the United States was becoming a net exporter of oils, proteins and oilseeds. By 1949, the US was exporting 23 million bushels of soybeans, paving the way for this country to become a major source of edible oil and protein. By 1969, ASA reported that for the first time an amount equal to over half the soybean crop had been exported as soybeans or soybean meal.

Orginally published in 1996 in the 50th Anniversary Edition of the Soya Bluebook.