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-Joining me today is Dr. Shaun Casteel.
Shaun is a specialist in soybean production, and he's going to provide an overview for
us today about growing soybeans, and specifically he's going to tell us where high oleic soybeans
are grown, and any special considerations that farmers need to consider when growing
these types of soybeans.
Welcome, Shaun.
-Glad to be here.
-Let's get started with you telling us a little about where high oleic soybeans are grown
and what the outlook is.
-Sure.
So, high oleic soybeans are grown throughout the midwest.
They kinda started initially within a few target areas like Indiana and Ohio and even
a little bit in Iowa, but they started a few years ago with that, and then they started
expanding since then.
So, they had a localized introduction, and now there's a pretty good spread across the
middle of the midwest of the country.
- Great.
So, tell me what's the difference between a high oleic soybean and a regular soybean?
-For the grower, for the farmer, there really isn't any major differences in terms of the
way you plant it, the way that you manage it for weeds or diseases or insects or fertility
like you would a garden - they're no different, and so that's the beauty of this system that
the grower doesn't have to do anything different in terms of the management or how they grow
it during the growing season.
-So, if a farmer decides to grow this, do they need to do anything different?
Do they need to do anything different from a farmer's perspective?
-Sure, there are a few things.
Whenever we look at these beans, they're kind of a special, or high value, there's something
different about them, right?
That's why we're talking about this in that the management is no different, but it's whenever
you get to the end of the season, so they want a whole field that's that same variety,
that has that trait, that's high oleic, that good quality oil, and so whenever they harvest
it at the end of the season, they're going to make sure that their combines are cleaned
out and then they take it all over to a processor so they can keep that identified so it
goes into the same value stream for food or feed or anything else.
-So it's just the idea of keeping them separate?
-That's right.
-Okay.
So, tell us a little bit about how the high oleic soybean is processed.
-Sure.
There's really not that much difference in terms of the way it's processed compared to
a normal soybean.
The main thing is, again, keeping it, the identity preserved so that when they know
it's coming in on the trucks - this is a high oleic soybean and needs to go in this stream
or this path and that's the way it's always going to be handled in terms of storage until
it's processed.
And then it goes through the normal process with oil extractions and the protein that
comes out of that.
-Great.
So, if I as a farmer choose to grow high oleic soybeans, do are they growing both, or just
growing one or the other?
-Sure, there's farmers that do both, some that have contracts, they get a little bit
of a premium because there is a little bit extra management and that's really on that
tail end again, that you have that whole field is harvested, that combine is cleaned out,
that identity is preserved as it goes to the processor, so there may be a 4-5 per cent
increase as compared to a regular soybean production.
-In terms of how much they would get paid for that?
-Exactly.
-Great.
So, who do you think will be the consumer of this new oil?
-So it's really coming down to the people within the food system.
So, those that are using it for food service, those who are going to use it for direct oil
- cooking oil, that kind of thing, or as an ingredient in some of the foods that are made
and manufactured.
-Great, great.
So, what's the outlook for this high oleic soybean?
-So, really when you think about from a farmers perspective, there's nothing that really needed
to be added in terms of the management, but it's a nice revenue stream to have 4-5 percent
more premium coming in.
Targets maybe 20-30 percent of the acres, so a pretty large acreage, but that's also
coming at a value to the consumer when you think about the quality of this oil and you
know more that than I even do.
-Great, great.
Well, thank you for sharing with us today about how soybeans are grown, specifically
high oleic soybean oil.
-It was my pleasure.
-Thank you.
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