Can Farmers Meet High Oleic Demand?

Jul 07, 2016

high-oleic-demand

The marketplace is ready, but end users need supply

After testing high oleic soybean oil in their fried and baked foods, chefs say they’re impressed with the oil’s performance. But farmers have to provide a consistent supply of the high-functioning oil before big food companies will make the leap.

More U.S. soybean farmers are responding to meet that demand. In 2016, farmers are expected to harvest more than 450,000 acres of high oleic soybeans – nearly double last year’s numbers. Nebraska and Kansas farmers planted high oleic soybeans for the first time this year, and the varieties are available in more states each planting season.

Every successful high oleic crop proves to customers that the soybean industry is willing and able to provide a consistent supply of high oleic soybean oil.

“This is an opportunity to take a look at what we can do to help the soybean industry grow,” says Kevin Wilson, who grows high oleic and commodity soybeans on his farm in Walton, Indiana.

Wilson recently planted high oleic varieties for the fourth time.

“We started with a small number of acres, and each year we have added 100 to 200 acres,” he says. “This year, we planted half our acres to high oleic.”

The soy checkoff, in cooperation with Pioneer and Monsanto, has set a goal to double high oleic acreage again next year. Looking ahead, the checkoff’s goal is for farmers to plant 18 million acres by 2023. Ambitious industry goals mean it’s even more important for farmers to show potential customers that farmers can meet their demand.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.