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.
