Crop year 2018 was a good year for U.S. soybean farmers. Several all-time records and near-records were set for soybean production and for soybean meal usage. The following table provides the most recent soybean supply and use information published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The 2018 soybean crop is still subject to some minor change based on the harvest. Soybean production appears to be at all-time high resulting in more soybeans being available for crush and/or export. Soybean yield is estimated at 52.1 bushels/acre which is an all-time record producing a record soybean production value of 4,600 million bushels. The record domestic soybean crush of 2,080 million bushels provides ample volume of soybean meal for use by the domestic feed industry and for export sales. Over 49 billion short tons of soybean meal will be available for the feed trade and export.
U.S. 2018 Soybean Crop Statistics
Reference: USDA/WASDE-584, December 11, 2018