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July 2, 2025
ST. LOUIS — From your running shoes to the renewable fuels moving trucks, trains and ships, soybeans are quietly giving farmers new ways to stay competitive. As soybean farmers navigate volatile export markets, they’re leveraging homegrown innovation to build domestic demand across the food, energy and animal feed sectors.
The U.S.-grown crop also provides a renewable alternative to petroleum in everyday products that power a sustainable future.
“U.S. soy is no longer solely an animal feed or export crop, it’s a platform for American innovation,” said Lucas Lentsch, CEO of the United Soybean Board (USB). “These investments aren’t abstract. They’re happening on the farm and in the market today.”
Soybean oil now fuels commercial trucks, school buses and trains, with all six Class 1 railroads committed to expanding their use of soy-based biofuels. By 2030 clean fuels are expected to eliminate over 50 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions annually; they already are said to reduce emissions by more than 70 percent on average compared to traditional petroleum diesel.
Soy also is found in more than 1,000 consumer products, from PFAS-free firefighting foam to synthetic turf, shoes, tires, plastics, plywood and even emergency services. A surge in demand for soy-based products is helping diversify markets and keep farm families in business.
“This isn’t niche, it’s the future of American manufacturing and energy,” Lentsch said. “With soy as a drop-in replacement, a petroleum use today is a soy innovation tomorrow.”
The rise in soybean oil for biofuel production has brought several crushing plants online, one of the latest Norfolk Crush in Eastern Nebraska, an agricultural customer for the Nebraska Central Railroad Co.
The state-of-the-art plant near Norfolk opened in May 2024 about the time the soybean harvest began in the region. The plant supports 50-60 jobs in the area and can crush 40 million bushels of soybeans annually, or 110,000 bushels a day. More than five million bushels of soybeans are stored in six grain bins.
Norfolk Crush is producing 850,000 tons of soybean meal for animal feed and nearly 440 million pounds of oil. Crushed soybeans are also produced for biodiesel and renewable fuel production.
NCRC serves the plant and interchange tank and hopper cars with Union Pacific.
While railroads are increasingly using clean alternative fuel sources, they also depend on grain for a large source of revenue. Grain is one of the largest commodities for U.S. railroads, and it’s growing.
Railroads, largely led by BNSF and UP, handle 24 percent of domestic grain movements and 39 percent of grain export movements, according to USDA. Corn is the most transported grain by rail and accounts for 51 percent of rail grain carloads in 2023. Soybeans and wheat follow closely.
Fifty-eight percent of whole soybean shipments are moved in cars owned by the railroad while more than 90 percent of soybean meal is shipped on privately-owned cars.
Through June 21, railroads moved 528,110 carloads, up 5.4 percent from last year, according to the Association of American Railroads. Last year 1.06 million carloads of grain were moved, up 5.3 percent from 2023 and fourth highest of 10 carload types, excluding intermodal.
The U.S. is the world’s second leading soybean producer and No. 1 exporter of soybean and oil crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Soybeans compose over 90 percent of U.S. oilseed production, and other oilseeds − peanuts, sunflower seed, canola, flax − make up the rest.
Large-scale production of soybeans did not begin until the 20th century in the U.S., but since then area planted to soybeans has expanded rapidly.
USDA says increased planting flexibility, yield improvements from narrow-rowed seeding practices, a greater number of 50-50 corn-soybean rotations, and low production costs (partly due to widespread adoption of herbicide-tolerant varieties) favored the expansion of soybean acreage.
More than 90 million acres of soybeans were planted in 2017, and in 2018 planted acres at 89.2 million acres exceeded corn acres for the first time since 1983.
Soybean production peaked at 4.46 billion bushels in 2021 but has slightly ticked downward, according to USDA. Acres devoted to soybeans decreased to 87.45 million in 2022 as farmers shifted more land toward corn and other grains. Last year U.S. farmers produced 4.37 billion bushels.
But U.S. soybeans are still in demand around the world and contribute $31 billion to the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Soybean Export Council. About 60 percent of U.S. soybeans are exported, and half a million U.S. soybean farmers collectively invest in U.S. markets − biofuels, biobased products, human nutrition and the poultry, pig and dairy feed sectors.
USB says export markets and growing international and domestic demand for U.S. soy still remains top of mind for the agriculture industry.
In the last 15 years, soy usage in biofuels has grown from 868 million pounds to a staggering 13.2 billion pounds.
U.S. soybean farmers are global leaders in sustainability, USB says. Through cover crops, conservation tillage and precision technologies, they’re producing more with less while improving soil and water health.
Farmers for Soil Health − which is funded by USDA and leads soy, corn and pork commodity groups − aims to double cover crop acreage and reach 30 million acres by 2030.
“As farmers we know sustainability isn’t a buzzword, it’s how we operate every day,” said USB chair Philip Good, a Mississippi farmer who raises soybeans, corn, cotton, beef cattle and catfish. “My 99-year-old father once taught me to treat our soil like a bank account and make more deposits than withdrawals, and that h as stuck with me through my farming career.
“Whether it’s reducing emissions through cleaner fuels or replacing petroleum in everyday products, we’re showing how U.S. agriculture can drive innovation and protect the planet at the same time.”
PR Newswire contributed to this report.
