2008 marks the 20th anniversary of two events that helped shape the future of the U.S. soybean industry. The first event proved to be one of the most devastating droughts in modern times. The second represented a national effort to create a new and different program that could potentially reduce the impact of future droughts and other challenges, and help provide a whole host of profit opportunities for U.S. soybean farmers – in good times and bad.

From the cover story: Our country and world need soy for food, feed and fuel, and U.S. soybean farmers will continue playing a major role in the U.S. soy industry as they step up to meet this challenge. “No doubt my costs and the costs for many other soybean farmers to put a soybean crop in the ground this year skyrocketed,” said United Soybean Board (USB) Vice Chairman Chuck Myers, a soybean farmer from Lyons, Neb. “But demand and prices like we have seen stimulate innovation,” he said from his farm office overseeing the gently rolling hills of soybeans he planted in the northeast part of his state. “I think we absolutely can do all three — produce soybeans to meet the future global needs for food, feed and fuel.” This year’s soybean crop, fortunate enough to avoid Midwest floods or Southern drought, is about to enter its critical pod-filling stage. At the same time, farmers who will harvest it find themselves in an historically unusual supply, demand and value situation. The price of soybeans this year on the Chicago Board of Trade broke a record that has stood for 35 years. Myers said commodity prices often drop, but most input costs usually don’t follow. “My soybean seed costs increased 28 percent this year,” said Myers. “The cost of glyphosate to control weeds more than doubled,” he said. “I’ve seen the cost to purchase and rent land move twice as high, too. And my fuel costs ranged about $7.80/acre to plant my crop and will probably run about $14.07/acre to harvest.” In addition to driving up the cost of U.S. soybean production, the jump in petroleum and other energy costs coupled with unusually low stocks of other major commodities prompted some in the food industry, poultry and livestock industry, and international food aid organizations to question using agricultural commodities and government incentives to stimulate and encourage production of biofuels such as biodiesel. Others see biodiesel and other biofuels as a much needed source of new energy and only a minor factor in a very complex

Volume 3, issue 3 includes a cover story on the soybean checkoff's efforts and successes in driving worldwide demand for U.S. soybeans. Other topics include U.S. livestock and poultry demand growth, research on enhanced soybean varieties, extraordinary new uses for soy, overcoming biotech barriers and more!

If you could change the characteristics of the soybeans you plant to get higher yields or healthier oil or even more protein for animal feed, wouldn’t you? If end-use customers like food manufacturers asked for certain traits that could boost your profitability, wouldn’t you provide them? Of course you would, and you’ll continue to do so through the efforts of checkoff-funded soybean research. The work in labs and research plots around the country seeks to find new ways to keep U.S. soybean farmers competitive. Here’s a sampling of how this research could impact your bottom line. One of the biggest efforts has been to map the genes of the soybean to better understand each gene’s effect on the plant – good or bad. This research provides seed breeders with tools (see sidebar on page 6) they can then use to develop new pest and disease resistance, drought resistance, herbicide tolerance and more. “We’ve taken basic checkoff research and have used it to expand our knowledge and germplasm for developing improved varieties,” says Jeff Thompson, a researcher with Pioneer Hi-Bred. “We use traditional breeding techniques enhanced by genetic research and marker-assisted gene selection.”