The U.S. soybean industry is working to meet the demands of other countries despite having less farmland and fewer farmers. The USDA says U.S. farmland has shrunk by 7% since 2000.
The U.S. soybean industry is working to meet the demands of other countries despite having less farmland and fewer farmers. In 2000 the U.S. had 943 million acres of farmland, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. By 2025, that number had decreased 7% to 874 million acres. However, the United Soybean Board says the U.S. is currently producing about 2 billion more bushels of soybeans per year in the same timeframe. Many soy farmers are preparing for the Fall harvest before exporting their crops to China. "China consumes more soybeans than all the rest of the world combined... They are valuable customer, but we don't agree on everything," Caleb Ragland, American Soybean Association Chair, said. Farmers are hoping that the increase in soy prices and sales will help them at least break even after years of high input costs. With global demand for American soy increasing, farmers are finding new ways to market their crops in new industries. Thanks to decades of research headed by the United Soybean Board, farmers can market their crops as a "product that touches every human life every single day." "There're thousands of new uses. We get soy oil in Goodyear tires, artificial turf, soy foam is a great success story," Brent Gatton, United Soybean Board Chair, said. The soybean harvest in Kentucky starts in September and continues through October.
