Same Production… Premium Profit

You have the opportunity to make more money doing the work you already do and open new markets to advance the entire soybean industry. Want to hear more?

High oleic soybeans might be just the thing to discuss with your seed representative as you look forward to next growing season. High oleic varieties are available in many states and continue to expand into new regions. Soybean farmers who have had planted these beans are enjoying premiums while growing soybeans for oil and food markets. And they’re doing so without having to make significant changes to their farming practices.

The only difference is the premium

Bill Beam, a Pennsylvania soybean farmer and former soy checkoff farmer-leader, says the premium associated with growing high oleic soybeans is attracting attention in his area. He first gave them a try on 20 acres and was impressed enough to increase that to 300 acres the second year. He expects to increase his acreage of high oleic soybeans again next year and advises his fellow farmers to try them out as well.

“I think they’re the wave of the future, and I encourage farmers to plant some and see for themselves,” he says. “You really can’t tell a difference from the production side, beyond keeping them separated from other beans. We fertilize the same, we spray the same, and we plant the same — the only difference I see is that I get a premium when I deliver them.”

Beam has the option of delivering his high oleic soybeans at harvest or later in the season. When he first started growing them, the nearest elevator was about 50 miles from Beam’s operation. But a new crush plant about 40 miles from him made high oleic even more appealing because of reduced transportation costs.

Same work, higher value

Over in Indiana, fellow soybean farmer and former farmer-leader Mike Beard shared a similar experience transitioning to high oleic soybeans. He tried them out when he found high-yielding varieties available in his desired maturity group. “It’s not a difficult transition at all,” he says. “It’s similar to what I do to switch from corn to soybeans.”

High oleic soybeans offer benefits that extend far beyond the individual farmer, he says.

“We have the opportunity to gain back some of the 4 billion pounds of the food oil market we lost to alternative oil sources,” Beard says. “High oleic soybeans provide more uses for our soybean oil. More uses for our oil means more markets for our soybeans. More markets means more value. So even those farmers not growing high oleic soybeans benefit from them, since their use in the marketplace creates a higher-value situation for all soybeans.”

For more information on high oleic soybeans and to learn if they’re available in your area, visit the locations page or contact your local seed representative.