Field corn is a key ingredient in many foods, including cereal products like
corn flakes, grits, and tortillas, and processed foods like
corn syrup, corn oil, and starch. It's also used in beverages and industrial alcohols like corn whiskey.
Soybeans deliver a vegetable protein option for humans. Most of the time, foods incorporate soybeans after they’ve been crushed. Soybean meal provides protein in foods like
protein bars, meat alternatives and soy milk.
Global animal agriculture, however, is the main soybean customer. Producers rely on the high-quality feed to nourish animals like chickens, pigs, turkeys, cattle and fish that thrive on nutrient-dense
soybean meal.
The soybean meal fed in the U.S. goes to several segments of animal agriculture.
- Poultry eats about 61.2%.
- Hogs consume 18%.
- Beef and dairy cattle use just over 18%.
- The rest goes to aquatic farming like fish and shrimp, other farm animals and companion animals like horses and pets.
Countries around the world import U.S. soybeans to feed their livestock, too. For example, soybeans travel to feed poultry in Columbia, pigs in the European Union, fish in Southeast Asia and much more, according to the
U.S. Soybean Export Council.
The major feed grains are corn, sorghum, barley, and oats. Corn is the primary feed grain in the United States, accounting for more than 90 percent of total feed grain production and use.
www.ers.usda.gov
Products made from soybeans touch everyday life in countless ways, though often behind the scenes.
www.unitedsoybean.org
