November 21, 2011

US soy still in strong demand abroad

US soy continues to be in strong demand among the international customers according to the Federal government figures.

Buyers outside of the US purchased 1.5 billion bushels of whole US soy in the latest marketing year, according to the US Census Bureau. That makes US soy one of the largest agricultural exports. And US agriculture continues to lead all economic sectors with a positive balance of trade.

"Increasing demand for US soy abroad has been the cornerstone of the soybean-checkoff-funded marketing efforts for the past 20 years," says Jim Call, a soy farmer from Madison, Minn. Call also chairs the United Soybean Board (USB) International Marketing program. "We focus not just on China, but on increasing sales in other international markets, as well."

"The soybean checkoff helps fund market-building activities like hosting international buying teams and conducting poultry and livestock feeding demonstrations abroad that prove the advantages of using US soy," Call says.

US soy farmers helped export over 1.5 billion bushels of whole soy.

Soymeal from over 332 million bushels of soy was exported. Oil from approximately 290 million bushels of soy went to foreign customers. Soy users in China weighed in as the top international customers of whole US soy buying 895 million bushels, up from 825 million bushels during the 2010/2011 marketing year.