The Year of Soybeans is the theme at the 2011 Indiana State Fair. This is the fifth year in a row that the Fair has picked an agricultural product to feature as its overall theme. Previous products included corn, tomatoes, pork, and hardwood.

Most Hoosiers had at least a vague idea of what these products were, but it is a different story for soybeans. Ask most fair visitors if they have ever eaten a soybean, and they will say “no.” But, in truth, they have because soy is in most of the meat we eat plus a bewildering variety of food, fiber and fuel products. Yet seeing soybean fields along the interstate is about the closest most people get to a soybean.

So here is a little information about the soybean you might want to share with your friends when they ask, “Why do they grow soybeans?”

Poultry are the largest consumers of soybeans followed by swine, beef and dairy. Soybeans also produce vegetable oil which is used in salad dressing, cooking oil, and in a variety of processed food items.

So, chances are, several of the food items you consumed today contained soybeans. McDonalds calls those bite-sized pieces of chicken, “chicken nuggets,” but it would be more accurate to call them soybean nuggets. Perhaps they should start putting soybean action figures in Happy Meals.

The real magic of the soybean, however, comes from the thousands of other uses it has in addition to food for people and animals. Soy can be found in many industrial products including paint, rubber and ink. A wide variety of consumer products are also made with soy including hand cream, hair care products, antibiotics and crayons.

Each year, Purdue University hosts a contest for inventors to come up with new products made with soy. Such inventions as soy candles and ski wax have come from this competition. Soybeans are even helping to solve our energy crisis. Soy methyl ester, a byproduct of the soybean, can be mixed with diesel oil to produce soy biodiesel. This renewable fuel can power cars, trucks, and busses and can produce less air pollution and reduce our nation’s dependence on imported oil.

Soybeans were first discovered and cultivated in China. The first field of soybeans was planted in the United States in 1765 in Georgia. In 1770, Benjamin Franklin wrote about the new crop called soybeans.

During the Civil War, soybeans were often roasted and ground as a substitute for coffee.

Growing of soybeans by farmers did not become widespread until after World War I. Farmers, especially in the West, started growing soybeans as a way of replenishing their soil. The soybean plant puts a lot of nitrogen back into the soil when it is grown.
Henry Ford was a big promoter of soybeans. The Ford Motor Company spent more than $1 million dollars on soybean research and, by 1935, 2 bushels of soybeans were part of every Ford car made.

After World War II, the growing of soybeans became more popular in Indiana and across the Midwest.

With the introduction of hybrid seeds and commercial fertilizers, farmers began to use soybeans as a rotation crop with corn.
Today many farmers will grow corn one year in a field and the next year grow soybeans.

This rotation helps replenish the soil as well as control pests and diseases. Much of Indiana’s soybean crop enters the world market. The United States is the largest exporter of soybeans in the world.
The adoption of biotechnology has increased the soybean yields and has given farmers many new tools to produce soybeans more economically. New varieties of soybeans now produce vegetable oil that has no trans-fats and has many other properties that are good for human health.

On average, a soybean field in Indiana will yield 50 bushels of soybeans. U.S. soybean production has been steadily increasing from 28 bushels per acre in 1984 to a national average of 44 bushels per acre in 2009.

But yields will have to continue to increase.
It is estimated that, by 2050, world population will top 9 billion people.

The U.S. farmer will have to double food production by that time in order to feed the world’s population. Soybean protein will be a big part of that effort.

So that is why we grow soybeans: to provide the world with a source of food, fiber and fuel.

Growing soybeans also helps the environment by providing profitable rotation crops with corn for Midwestern farmers.
Soybeans will continue to increase in importance as our world increases its food demand and seeks for more bio-based industrial and energy products. Consumers need to know more about soybeans. It is up to soybean farmers to help explain why we grow soybeans.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.