The United Soybean Board says the popularity of high oleic soybeans is growing. Keenan McRoberts tells Brownfield the high oleic varieties are giving producers a locally-grown alternative to fat supplements in dairy rations. “It’s primarily in certain regions right now based partly on availability of seed, having the right maturity groups in the right place closer to the dairies so New York is big, Pennsylvania, a little bit more on that east coast and northeast, but we’re starting to see some expansion into Michigan and the upper Midwest as well.”
McRoberts says the United Soybean Board has invested heavily into research including how to process the beans, and he says proper roasting is critical. “If you’re roasting the whole soybeans, you can get a lot of variation in product quality so testing is critical to make sure you know what you’ve got coming into that ration and then you can feed it the right way and get the most out of it.”
McRoberts says for now, seed availability is the biggest challenge but there’s a bright side to that problem. “The advantage of that is, it gives us time to really prepare the industry for sustained growth. The last thing we want is for this to be a flash in the pan.”
McRoberts says as seed supply ramps up and seed genetics become more available by 2030, he expects demand will be strong, partly because of the density of dairy operations in the Midwest.
