Growing Soybeans

Soybeans are grown all over the world: Brazil, Argentina, China, and the central part of the U.S. While soybeans can grow in many different types of conditions, they grow best in well-drained, loamy soils that receive about 25 inches of rain each year. Soybeans can use atmospheric nitrogen for plant growth, which means extra fertilizer is not needed.

Soybeans are harvested in late September and October by combines and are usually hauled to a processing facility where they are crushed to make soybean meal and soybean oil. These products are bought from the processing facility by food makers or other farmers and then are shipped to those places using trucks, trains, barges, or ships. In Minnesota, two out of every three semi trucks leaving the field has soybeans that will be exported to China, where they are used for animal feed.