Soybeans

Stiff competition worldwide and relatively low prices have decreased acreage, but soybeans still remain one of Alabama's major row crops. The largest acreage is in the Tennessee Valley of North Alabama and the Gulf Coast area. Two soybean processing plants are located in North Alabama.

Soybeans are processed into meal and oil. Most of the meal goes into poultry and livestock feed. Soybean oil accounts for about three-fourths of the fats and oils used in U.S. edible oil products. Most cooking oils, shortenings, and margarines are made from soybean oil.

Here is a short list of what soybeans are used for

Consumer Products Adhesives
All-Purpose Lubricants
Alternative Fuels
Animal Care
Auto Care
Bar Chain Oils,
Building Composites
Candles
Cleaning Products
Crayons
Diesel Additives
Furniture
Hair Care
Hand Cleaners
Hydraulic Fluids
Engine Oils
Paint Strippers
Two-Cycle Engine Oils

Alabama produces soybeans. In fact there are 160,000 acres in the state growing soybeans. This yields 2.9 million bushels of soybeans a year. The 5 leading counties in Alabama for soybean production are Jackson, Madison, Baldwin, Limestone, and DeKalb.

Click on the soybean picture for Alabama's statistics.

Interesting Facts About Soybeans:

Farmers in China grew soybeans some 5,000 years ago!

The first soybeans were brought to the U.S. on a Yankee clipper in 1804 in the
early days of our nation.

In 1829, U.S. farmers first began growing soybeans. During the Civil War,
soybeans were used as "coffee berries" to brew "coffee" when real coffee was
scarce.

In the late 1800s, U.S. farmers began growing soybeans for cattle feed.

Just after the turn of the century, in 1904, George Washington Carver began
studying the soybean at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. People no longer
thought of the soybean as just a feed crop, but also as a source of protein and oil.

By 1929, U.S. soybean production reached 9 million bushels a year. William "Bill"
Morse went to China and gathered 1,000 different varieties for U.S. researchers to
study.

In the early 1950s soybean meal was used as a low-cost, high-protein feed
ingredient to help increase poultry and livestock production

Today, farmers across the U.S. grow soybeans that have been harvested into
yields of about 2 billion bushes a year. About half of U.S. soybeans are exported
to major markets including the European Community, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico and
South Korea. More soybeans are grown in the U.S. than anywhere else in the
world.

Information used from http://www.unitedsoybean.org