In 2006, 3.2 billion bushels of soybean (Glycine max) was produced in the U.S. (74.5 million acres; average yield of 43 bu/ac). Production is concentrated in the Midwest with about 70% of the harvested acres located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Ohio. About 30-35% of raw soybeans are exported with the remainder used domestically.
Soybeans are crushed to obtain soybean meal and soybean oil. The meal is fed to livestock (50% for poultry feed, 26% for swine, 12% for beef, and the rest for other animals). Around 7 million tons are exported.
Soybean oil is used mainly for food uses although increasing quantities are used for industrial purposes. About 628 million pounds (4% of 2004 production) was used to produce inks, adhesives and binders, and used in plastics and detergents among other industrial uses. In 2004, 30 million gallons of biodiesel was produced from soybean using about 20 million of the 1.65 billion bushels produced. Biodiesel production in 2005 was 66 million gallons (92% from soybean oil).