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Soybeans: The Miracle Crop
The soybean is often called the miracle crop. The bushy, green soybean plant is a
legume related to clover, peas and alfalfa. Farmers plant soybeans in the late
spring. During the summer, soybeans flower and produce 60-80 pods, each holding
three pea-sized beans. In the early fall, farmers harvest their crop for these
beans which are high in protein and oil. A 60-pound bushel of soybeans yields
about 48 pounds of protein-rich meal and 11 pounds of oil.
Soybeans are for tofu!!! Tofu
is a custard-like food made from soybeans. Another product, soy sauce, is also
made from soybeans. But that's not all soybeans are used for, there is soy ink, paint thinner, glue, plastic,
building materials, furniture, cereals, flour, cooking oils, milk, and much
more!
Top Ten Facts About Soybeans:
- More
soybeans are grown in the United States than anywhere else in the world.
- As
early as 5,000 years ago, farmers in China grew soybeans.
- In
1804, a Yankee clipper ship brought soybeans to the U.S. When leaving China,
sailors loaded the ship with soybeans as an inexpensive ballast. When they
arrived in the U.S. they dumped the soybeans to make room for cargo.
- In
1829, U.S. farmers first grew soybeans. They raised a variety for soy sauce.
- During
the Civil War, soldiers used soybeans as "coffee berries" to brew
"coffee" when real coffee was scarce.
- In
the late 1800s significant numbers of farmers began to grow soybeans as a forage
for cattle.
- In
1904, at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama., George Washington Carver began
studying the soybean. His discoveries changed the way people thought about the
soybean; no longer was it just a forage crop. Now its beans provided valuable
protein and oil.
- By
1929, U.S. soybean production had grown to 9 million bushels. That year, soybean
pioneer William J. "Bill" Morse left on a two-year odyssey to China
during which he gathered more than 10,000 soybean varieties for U.S. researchers
to study.
- By
1940, the U.S. soybean crop had grown to 78 million bushels harvested on 5
million acres, and the United States was a net exporter of soybeans and soybean
products. That year, Henry Ford took an ax to a car trunk made with soybean
plastic to demonstrate its durability. The publicity increased the soybean's
popularity.
- Today,
farmers across the U.S. grow soybeans that have been harvested into yields of
about 2 billion bushes a year.
Back to Plant It!
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