One topic of interest at Commodity Classic was high-oleic soybeans. As a former dairyman, South Dakota farmer Todd Hanten says he’s excited at the prospect of growing soybeans to feed the growing number of dairy cows around his Deuel County home.
A director on the United Soybean Board, Hanten said the checkoff is working to research and promote high-oleic soybeans as a beneficial part of a dairy ration, to increase milk fat and maybe decrease methane emissions. This year a new variety of high-oleic beans compatible with Enlist herbicide is available for farmers to plant. A grain elevator in South Dakota is preparing to buy the beans at a $1 premium this spring. Hanten said it will likely add 31 cents to the price of soybeans in his area.
Don Wyss, another United Soybean Board director, said, “There’s an opportunity with dairy to bring more value back to the soybean farm.”
He grows Pioneer’s Plenish beans on his farm in northeastern Indiana. It’s part of the farm’s plan to bring a premium on every acre, he said – which in some years is $2 per bushel.
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