LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A new program designed to help high-oleic soybean farmers improve sustainability will benefit those who grow the crop, according to a Lafayette producer.

 

The High-Oleic Sustainability Program is a partnership between the United Soybean Board (USB) and Agrible, Inc. The project is funded by the soybean checkoff and allows farmers to anonymously share data with neighboring growers on such things as yields, diesel fuel use, nutrient application rates and soil health.

Farmers won’t know who supplied the data but will be able to compare their averages with the averages of nearby growers. The program is available in Indiana and Ohio.

Sustainability is important to the Millennial generation, said Mike Beard, USB farmer-leader in Indiana. He has 375 acres of high-oleic beans and also grows soybeans for seed.

“U.S. farmers are way ahead of anyone else in the world (in sustainability),” Beard explained. “We achieve that sustainability in part because we have our farm programs. We won’t tear up woodlands, we won’t plant in wetlands and we won’t tear up waterways.

“Sustainability is about energy use, how you treat the soil, chemical use and all the other inputs. It comes down to yield per practice.”

About 1 million acres of high oleic beans have been planted in the United States this year. The soybean industry has a goal of 20 million acres by 2025. High-oleic beans are raised for their oil, which is used domestically in cooking, food ingredients and for some industrial uses, he said.

High-oleic soybean oil has lower saturated fats than commodity soybean oil and no trans fat, the USB added. Conventional soybean oil has levels of trans fats that compared negatively with sunflower and canola oil, Beard noted. “USB developed high-oleic soybean oil in order to gain the market share we lost,” he explained. “(The sustainability program) will help promote high oleic soybean oil, especially to Millennials. “It’s a provable marketing tool to easily differentiate our high-oleic soybean oil from canola and other competitors.

Customers want to know it’s a sustainably produced product.” There’s a broad demand for sustainable products, said Cynthia Bruno, Agrible’s chief strategy officer.

“Companies are really serious about sustainability. They’re becoming more connected with their food, where it comes from and how it’s grown. Growers have been using sustainable practices for a long time, which is something they’re very proud of. The program will allow growers to tell their sustainability stories.”

Comparing data with other growers will allow farmers the opportunity to improve their operations, Beard said. “If you know the average (in your area) and you know where you sit in the average, you’ll know where you need to make improvements. For example, you may see the average uses less diesel fuel per acre than you do.

“There are also opportunities in soil health. Maybe other farmers are using cover crops or no-till. They may be doing some irrigation practices that work better than what you’re doing. If you’re way below the average in yield, you can try to figure out what’s making your numbers so low,” he said. 

 

Agrible representatives recently spent time visiting farmers to share information on the program.

The first question many growers asked had to do with the confidentiality of their information, said Jason Little, director of sales for Agrible.

“They want to know if their data will be private,” he explained. “During these meetings, we’ve been talking to them about the project, giving them information and answering questions.”

Agrible measures several areas related to farming – energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, soil and water use, water quality and nitrogen use, Bruno said.

“The individual growers, and only them, get to see their personal information for their farm,” she said. “But all growers can see how they’re doing against the benchmarks locally and nationally.”

Growers have “inherently been doing the right thing” when it comes to sustainability, Little said. “I boil it down to three things. Is it good for the farmland, is it good for the financial and is it good for family?”

For additional information or to joint he sustainability project, visit www.unitedsoybean.org/hossustainability