Overview
Processed soybeans are the largest source of protein
feed and vegetable oil in the world. The United States
is the world's leading soybean producer and exporter.
Farm value of U.S. soybean production in 2003/04 was $18.0
billion, the second-highest value among U.S.-produced
crops, trailing only corn. Soybean and soybean product
exports accounted for 43 percent of U.S. soybean production
in 2003. Soybeans equal about 90 percent of U.S. total
oilseed production, while other oilseedssuch as
cottonseed, sunflowerseed, and peanutsaccount for
the remainder. ERS analyzes events in the domestic and
international oilseed markets that influence supply, demand,
trade, and prices.
Features
2008 Farm Bill Side-By-Side (August 2008) presents a title-by-title summary of key provisions of the 2008 Act in a side-by-side comparison with previous legislation. The side-by-side includes links to related ERS publications and to analyses of previous farm acts. New features include a user's guide, an A-Z list of major provisions, and a search function.
Global Agricultural Supply and Demand: Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in Food Commodity Prices (July 2008) explores the many factors that have contributed to the runup in food commodity prices over the last 2 years.
Recommended Readings
USDA Soybean Projections, 2008-17 (March 2008) provides background on supply and demand issues for soybeans and soybean products underlying the long-term projections in USDA Agricultural Projections to 2017 (February 2008), and summarizes key findings for the U.S. soybean sector.
Valuing Counter-Cyclical
Payments: Implications for Producer Risk Management and
Program Administration (February 2007) illustrates an improved method
for estimating counter-cyclical payment rates by accounting
for the variability in market price forecast errors. Forecasters
and producers can use the model to calculate the probability
of having to repay advanced counter-cyclical payments.
Soybean
Backgrounder (April 2006) addresses key domestic and international
market and policy developments that have affected the
U.S. soybean sector in recent years. It provides an analysis
of the competition among crops for domestic farmland and
the international supply and demand for soybean products.
The report also covers farm program costs and contains
a profile of operating and financial characteristics of
U.S. farms producing soybeans.
See all recommended
readings...
Recommended Data Products
Monthly Tables from the Oil
Crops Outlook contain the latest data on U.S. production,
imports, domestic use, exports, and prices for each of
the major oilseeds, vegetable oils, and oilseed meals.
Oil Crops Yearbook provides key data on U.S. and world
oilseed acreage, supply, demand, and prices. It includes
data on U.S. soybeans, cottonseed, peanuts, sunflowerseed,
other special oilseeds, tropical oils, corn oil, and animal
fats, as well as extensive time series data sets on U.S.
oilseeds markets. The tables
also are available in Excel (*.xls) format.
Season-Average
Price Forecasts provides three Excel spreadsheet models
that use futures prices to forecast the U.S. season-average
price and counter-cyclical payment rate for corn, soybeans,
and wheat. Users can view the model forecasts or create
their own forecast by inserting different values for futures
prices, basis values, or marketing weights.
Soybean Costs and Returns
provides data and analyses for regional and national categories
back to 1975.
Foreign Agricultural Trade of
the United States (FATUS) provides U.S. agricultural
exports and imports, volume and value, by country, by
commodity, and by calendar year, fiscal year, and month,
for varying periods, such as 1935 to the present or 1989
to the present. Updated monthly or annually.
Production,
Supply, and Distribution (PS&D) contains official
USDA data on production, supply, and distribution of agricultural
commodities for the United States and major importing
and exporting countries. The database provides projections
for the coming year and historical data for more than
200 countries and major crop, livestock, fishery, and
forest products.
WTO Agricultural Trade Policy Commitments
Database contains data on implementation of trade
policy commitments by WTO member countries. Data on domestic
support, export subsidies, and tariffs are organized for
comparison across countries. This queriable database offers
various options for viewing and downloading data.
Quick
Stats: Agricultural Statistics Data Base offers U.S.,
State, and County-level agricultural statistics for many
commodities and data series. Quick Stats offers the ability
to query by commodity, State, and year. The dataset can
be downloaded for easy use in a database or spreadsheet.
Newsletter
Oil
Crops Outlook provides a monthly update of market
developments for soybeans, other oilseeds, and their products.
Related Briefing Rooms
Agricultural Baseline
Projections
U.S. Agricultural Trade
Farm and Commodity Policy
Farm Income and Costs
Farm Structure
Related Links
Websites of other USDA agencies, the Department of Commerce,
and universities contain valuable information on soybeans
and other oil crops.
See all related links...
Maps and Images Gallery
View maps of U.S. soybean and sunflower acreage and yield
by county, and soybean growing regions in the United States
and five other countries.
See all maps and images...
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