By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

ST. ELMO, Ill. — The first of three annual meetings of the United Soybean Board (USB), in February in Mobile, Ala., focused on strengthening U.S. soy’s most critical market – animal agriculture – by increasing meal demand.

Delivering the compositional quality and meal product that animals need by increasing protein and oil levels in soybeans is paramount in achieving that goal, according to a panel of animal nutritionists who addressed USB members, including Illinois farmer Gary Berg of St. Elmo.

“If we can help the nutritionists, who do a lot of research, that helps us too in coming up with better formulations of soybeans,” said Berg, who is one of four Illinois leaders serving on the USB board of directors. “(Animal nutritionists) are always wanting higher-quality soybeans. It is a fact that as are yields have gone up, our protein levels have gone down some.

“They absolutely want us to get that fixed. A lot of research needs to be done, because there is a lot of head-scratching going on as to the reasons.”

The nutritionists told the farmers on the USB that decreasing levels of protein and oil in soybeans are becoming a concern to both foreign and domestic customers. The causes for the decreases in levels are under investigation by a number of stakeholders, including Berg through his role with the USB.

“Sometimes when you push that yield up, you lose a little something somewhere else. We don’t know if that’s it, but we know areas of the country that have shorter growing seasons have a little less protein.

“One of the reasons South America is beating us in this respect is that they have a longer growing season. Even so, I think there are ways we can get this turned around,” said Berg, who was appointed to the USB by former USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in 2016.

During the meeting, a variety of opinions on how to address the decline in soybean protein and oil levels were offered, he said. “I think the biggest thing is that we need to work with the seed companies. They have seed varieties out there that all yield virtually the same, but some have better protein levels.

“We need to (encourage) them to hopefully only put out the ones that have the best protein and oil levels,” he said. “Meal is up to 72 percent of the value of the soybean, but we still have to be concerned about the oil.”

Boosting protein and oil levels in soybeans increases the value of U.S. and Illinois soybeans in the world market, added Berg, who, with his son, grows soybeans, corn and wheat in Fayette County.

According to experts with the extension system, many factors help determine soybean protein and oil content – even the weather. To a large extent, oil and protein levels depend on factors beyond farmers’ control, noted University of Minnesota extension soybean agronomist Seth Naeve.

“The timing of any stressor has a huge effect on the quality of soybeans at the end of the season,” said Naeve, who has studied how the timing of specific weather events affects soybean component quality.

He found that temperature, drought and severe weather can affect soybean protein and oil content in both positive and negative ways, depending on the timing of the event.

“We don’t know enough about how the weather affects soybean quality to give recommendations other than careful variety selection. Additionally, more yield will always provide more protein and oil per acre,” he noted.

The Illinois Soybean Assoc. agrees that oil and protein levels can be affected by weather, but seems not to concur with Naeve’s assertion that more yield equals more protein per acre. “Generally, a hotter climate means lower yields and a bump in crude protein. A cooler, moist season typically means bumper crops and a drop in crude protein,” according to an essay published on the ISA website.

Soy meal is sold based on 47.5 percent crude protein, according to the ISA, but can contain more or less. Additional crude protein means blending with hulls to reduce the level, while meal containing less than 47.5 percent crude protein carries a discount or is blended with soy meal with a protein level greater than 47.5 percent.

“Soybeans are valued for their oil and crude protein components in the seed. Soybeans typically contain 18-20 percent oil and 34-36 percent crude protein,” according to the ISA. “The industry standard target is 19/35, or 19 percent oil and 35 percent crude protein in soybeans.

“The processor wants higher oil content, which means more oil to sell. The feed industry wants high crude protein because it promises a greater supply of amino acids in the soybean meal.”

Ascertaining causes and identifying solutions for declining soybean protein and oil content is one of the top scientific priorities identified by the USB for 2018.