Re: soybeans

[Perry Clutts]

>>>I wondered if the plants were good to dry for livestock feeds. She didnt' think so<<<   Martha,   I know farmers still make "bean hay" in the south, but don't see much up here in Ohio. All for seed...   Perry This is from: http://www.agron.iastate.edu/courses/agron212/Readings/Soy_history.htm The earliest mention of soybeans in the U.S. lit­erature was in 1804. The authors mentioned that soybeans appeared to be well adapted to Pennsyl­vania soil. An 1879 report from the Rutgers Agri­cultural College in New Jersey is the first reference that soybeans had been tested in a scientific agri­cultural school in the United States. For many years, most of the references to this crop were by people working in eastern and southeastern United States where it was first popular. Most of the early U.S. soybeans were used as a forage crop rather than harvested for seed. Most of the early intro­ductions planted in these areas were obtained from China, Japan, India, Manchuria, Korea, and Taiwan. For many years, soybean acreage increased very slowly. There were only 1.8 million acres in the United States in 1924 when the first official esti­mate became available. At that time, most of the crop was used for hay. It was not until the 1920's that soybean acreage expanded to any great quan­tity in the U.S. Corn Belt. Before World War II, the U.S. imported more than 40% of its edible fats and oils. Disruption of trade routes during the war resulted in a rapid expansion of soybean acreage in the U.S. as the country looked for alternatives to these imports. Soybean was one of only two major new crops introduced into the U.S. in the twentieth century. The other major crop, Canola was initially developed in Canada and grown on some U.S. acres by the end of 2000. Soybean was successful as a new crop because there was an immediate need for soybean oil and meal, its culture was similar to corn, and it benefitted other crops in a rotation.